


The golden Tear of a Phoenix

by That_one_guy_you_dont_like



Series: The golden Ones [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: :), A little but of fluff, A lot hurt, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Found Family, In wich i type to many words about this, M/M, Marauders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Build, Time Travel, You may see where this is going, about what Harry could have done if he could chance his past, this is like the one post you saw on twitter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:01:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 56,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28924758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_one_guy_you_dont_like/pseuds/That_one_guy_you_dont_like
Summary: Harry had thought and lost. He had to die in order for Voldemort to become mortal. But what if Dumbledore had one last ace up his sleeve and Harry the chance to stop the war from ever happning? And what could the concequenses possibly be?In which Harry Time Travels, finds out what he had known long ago and makes right what was once done wrong.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter & Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger & Ron Weasley, Minerva McGonagall & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: The golden Ones [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121468
Comments: 21
Kudos: 57





	1. How it began-How it ended

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Harry ends up in his own past.

A swarm of dementors were gliding amongst the trees; he could feel their chill, and he was not sure he would be able to pass safely through it. (...) At the same time, he thought that he would not be able to go on, but he must. The long game had ended, the Snitch had been caught, it was time to leave the air... (...)

This was the close. This was the moment. Harry pressed the golden metal to his lips and whispered, "I am about to die."

The metal shell broke open. He lowered his shaking hand, raised Draco's wand beneath the Cloak, and murmured:

"Lumos."

The black stone with its jagged crack running down the center sat in the two halves of the Snitch. (...)  
He closed his eyes and turned the stone over in his hand three times.

He knew it had happened because he heard slight movements around him that suggested frail bodies shifting their footing on the earthly, twig-strewn ground that marked the outer edge of the forest. He opened his eyes and looked around.

They were neither ghosts nor true flesh, Harry could see that. They resemble most closely the Riddle that had escaped from the diary so long ago, and he had been made nearly solid. Less substantial than living bodies, but much more than ghosts, they moved towards him, and on each face, there was the same loving smile.

James was exactly the same height as Harry. He was wearing the clothes in which he had died. His hair was untidy and ruffled, and his glasses were a little lopsided, like Mr. Weasley´s. Sirius was tall and handsome, and younger by far than Harry had seen him in his life. He walked with easy grace, his hands in his pockets and a grin on his face.

Lupin was younger too, and much less shabby; his hair was thicker and darker. He looked happy to be back in this familiar place, a scene of so many adolescent wanderings.

Lily´s smile was the widest of all. She pushed her long hair back as she drew close to him, and her green eyes, so like his, searched his face hungrily, as though she would never be able to look at him, enough.

"You've been so brave."

He could not speak. His eyes feasted on her, and he thought that he would like to stand and look at her forever, and that would be enough.

"You are nearly there," said James. "Very close. We are... so proud of you."

"Does it hurt?"

The childish question had fallen from Harry's lips before he could stop it.

"Dying? Not at all," said Sirius. "Quicker and easier than falling asleep."

"And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over," said Lupin. "I didn't want you to die," Harry said. These words came without his volition. "Any of you. I'm sorry--"

"I am sorry too," said Lupin. "I will never know him... but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life."

A chilly breeze that seemed to emanate from the heart of the forest lifted the hair at Harry´s brow. He knew that they would not tell him to go, that it would have to be his decision.

"You will stay with me?"

"Until the very end," said James.

"They won't be able to see you?" asked Harry.

"We are a part of you," said Sirius. "Invisible to anyone else."

Harry looked at his mother.

"Stay close to me," he said quietly.

"Harry, we would never leave you. Please, look at what is left in the Snitch. It will be the only way for us to stay close to you. Wear it and we will see each other on the other side."

Harry wiped a spilled tear from his cheek and removed a thin gold necklace with a tiny golden pearl attached to it. With a shaky breath, he murmured an enlargement spell and slung it around his neck.

It felt good to follow his mum's request for the first time in his life; to have her guidance. He wished that they would have had more time together.

And he set off. The dementors´chill did not overcome him; he passed through it with his companions, and they acted like Patronuses to him. Together they marched through the old trees that grew closely together, their branches tangled, their roots gnarled and twisted underfoot. Harry clutched the Cloak tightly around him in the darkness, traveling deeper and deeper into the forest, with no idea where exactly Voldemort was, but sure that he would find him. Beside him, making scarcely a sound, walked James, Sirius, Lupin, and Lily. Their presence was his courage, and the reason he was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

His body and mind felt oddly disconnected now, his limbs working without conscious thought, as if he were a passenger, not driver, in the body he was about to leave. The dead who walked beside him through the forest was much more real to him now than the living back at the castle: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and all the others were the ones who felt like ghosts as he stumbled and slipped towards the end of his life, towards Voldemort... (...)

They had traveled for mere minutes when Harry saw light ahead, and Yaxley and Dolohov stepped out into a clearing that Harry knew had been the place where the monstrous Aragog had once lived. (...)

Every eye was fixed upon Voldemort, who stood with his head bowed, and his white hands folded over the Elder Wand in front of him. (...)

"I thought he would have come," said Voldemort in his high, clear voice, his eyes on the leaping flames. "I expected him to come."

Nobody spoke. They seemed as scared as Harry, whose heart was now throwing itself against his ribs as though determined to escape the body he was about to cast aside. His hands were sweating as he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it beneath his robes, with his wand. He did not want to be tempted to fight.  
"I was, it seems... mistaken," said Voldemort.

"You weren't."

Harry said it as loud as he could, with all the force he could muster. He did not want to sound afraid. The Resurrection Stone slipped from his numb fingers, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw his parents, Sirius, and Lupin vanished as he stepped forward into the firelight. (...)

"Harry Potter," he said very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "The Boy Who Lived." (...)

He saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and everything was gone. (...)

He lay in a bright mist, though it was unlike any mist he had ever experienced before. (...)

"Harry," He spun around. Albus Dumbledore was coming towards him, as he spread his arms wide, and his hands were both whole and undamaged. "You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk."

Stunned, Harry followed Dumbledore to two seats he hadn't noticed before. He looked at the old headmaster; long, silver hair, piercing blue eyes behind half-moon spectacles, the crooked nose; just like he had remembered.

"You must have an awful amount of questions, why don´t we start to answer some?" He smiled encouragingly, and Harry took a moment to sort his mind.

"You are dead, am I dead as well?"

"That the question, is it not?" He smiled softly, and whatever answer Harry was looking for, this was not it. "You are neither alive nor dead, this is where you decide where you want to go next. Every direction is open from here on."

"I decide if I want to keep living? But why didn't you just come back, if this is a free choice? Can you even decide to come back to life? Can all dead people move on from here?"

"No, my boy, not everybody can enter this place, and not everybody can come back to life on earth. I certainly couldn't, but I could come here. Only the ones with a good reason and strong connection to both worlds can visit, and then not for long. I know what you are hoping for, but your parents weren't able to come to welcome you in this space. But they made you bring something here, am I right?"

Harry raised his hand to his neck, fingers lingering on the thin gold necklace and the pendant hanging from it. It melted under his touch, forming into a small Phoenix with its wings spread wide. The Phoenix looked mesmerizing as he lifted its head, proud and strong, and then froze.

"Beautiful, isn’t he? Fawkes seemed to have chosen a worthy heir. Do you know what it means for a Phoenix to choose an heir?"

Harry shook his head, eyes fixated on the golden bird between his fingers. "It means that he has found the person worth dying for. To give his eternal life away and his protege a single wish. You, Harry, are that person. I don't have a lot of time left, and it would be a shame if I could not listen to your greatest wish, would it not?"

"Where did the pearl come from? And if this is only gifted to a worthy heir, how could it be that you never used your wish?"

"Oh, I have to go back in time to answer that question. During your sixth year, I destroyed the ring of the Gaunts, and took a deadly curse onto me, regarding me any chance to keep living. Fawkes, my faithful companion, gifted me a tear to ease the pain. He didn't choose me as his heir, so I kept the tear and preserved it for his chosen one to use when most needed. I thought that it was going to be you since he already cried for you in your second year, so I locked it away with the stone to not tempt you to waste it. Do you already know what your heart most desires?"

There were so many things going through Harry's mind that he couldn't focus on only one. His heart ached for the people that lost their lives to save him; the ones he couldn't save. It stung thinking about Ron and Hermine, who were left alone on a battlefield, and how he wasn't a better friend for them by fighting alongside them. And Ginny, oh his beautiful Ginny, who just lost her brother, and now her lover along with so many friends to the man that should have been defeated so long ago. It was overwhelmingly painful to think of what chaos, pain, and agony he had left behind, and he wished to redo all of it. His whole life, from the moment he still had a chance, a record as clean as it could be for the Chosen One. Before Lupin died, the war broke out, he left Ginny, before Hedwig died, and Sirius, and Cedric, before Lupin’s life was ruined, hell, he wished he could murder Tom Riddle while he still was in school and Myrtle didn't encounter the Basilisk.

Suddenly the Phoenix moved again under his fingers, curling in his imposing wing and lowering his head in a cry out, before melting. Dumbledore smiled at Harry, even though he never said his wish out loud.

"Remember my boy, the Horcrux in you was destroyed. You are free to live your life without it from now on. Become who you inspire to be, and strive for greatness."

His old mentor dissolved in front of his eyes before he was ripped out of the white station and into his thirteen-year-old body, which jumped out of his deep sleep. It was at the same time at a faraway place that a Phoenix went up in flames with a loud cry, not leaving a single flake of ash behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was something, wasn’t it? The cursive part is copied out of JKR Novel “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, so I have no rights to it. Tell me if you can guess where this story is going, and what you hope is going to happen:) Exactly 2100 words for the introduction and I feel like my fingers are dead already :-).
> 
> Have a fun stay here on AO3, maybe leave some love behind and enjoy the ridiculous amount of Fanfic her my fellow nerds;)
> 
> As a disclaimer: This work is inspired by the Series "Die goldene Träne des Phönix" from xXKarbanaCircusxX on Wattpad.


	2. Knockturn Ally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shopping trip through the Wizarding World taht we all would like to particapete in.

Harry jumped out of his bed. He was neither in Hogwarts nor the Forbidden Forest. Not even in his room in Privet Drive, or 12th Grimmauld Place. This was… this was his hotel room in the Leaky Cauldron, from when he stayed before his third year began in Hogwarts. Why was he sleeping soundly in a hotel when there was a war raging outside and he was able to fight it? 

With as much energy as his spinning mind could master, he yanked his feet out of the smooth covers, only to find himself almost tumbling to the ground. Where were the muscles he worked so hard for? He was in one of his old shirts, leftovers from Dudley, not the ones he had worn walking into Battle. And the mirror on the wall revealed that he was also significantly shorter, missing at least 15 cm in height and several kilos of muscle.

This was a different body than the one that had fallen onto the wet forest ground, missing a heartbeat and Horcrux. This was the body of a boy who had been starving for weeks, with little to no sleep due to studying all night out of fear of getting caught in the day. He vividly remembered being locked away in a room way too small, with no contact with his friends, and ending up blowing his aunt into space. 

This was not real, this could not possibly be happening, no, no, no.

His hair was messy and too long, and his glasses, which he had fetched from the nearby nightstand, sat a little crooked on his slim face. 

Even though he was lanky and with an expression far from a lopsided grin, and missing the grace he had seen from James, he realized for the first time that he was the spitting image of his father. 

Except for his eyes, the stunning green eyes his mother had passed down to him, which seemed way too broken for a boy of just thirteen years. He could imagine James seeing the same image in his mirror over 20 years ago.

A small glimpse of gold caught his eyes, and he was almost not able to look away from his face. He was wearing a delicate gold necklace; handed over by his mother and had once carried a golden Phoenix. A golden Phoenix that had cried a single golden tear just for him, and burned to not be born again. 

This must be the result of my deepest wish, he thought a little bitterly. Save Lily, James, Fred, Remus, Sirius, Lupin, Cedric, Hedwig, Snape, Dumbledore, and all the others that had given their lives for him and the war, the one that he was not able to prevent, even though he was The Chosen One. 

It was not the first time he felt like he had failed to live up to expectations and keep his loved ones safe, but now that he got the chance to be better, the mistakes he had made in his first life crushed him so deeply that he almost choked. 

He thought of all the pain he had caused and swore to never let another suffer for his sake. Not like Dumbledore made him suffer, like Peter Sirius or Voldemort the tens of thousands under his regime. He would prevent all of this pain, even if he would have to die over and over again to save the others.

His decision was made and it brought him to his knees, kneeling like he never thought he would again. He was thirteen again, about to start his third year, and so sure in the path he was going to take that it made him cry. Sirius was alive and outside of Azkaban, Peter still lived with the Weasleys and if he took care of him now he could never help the Dark Lord and the war would never happen. 

This time he would strive for greatness. He would fulfill his destiny. Nothing could stop his determination to save the world.

There was one thing to put a stop to his determination. Although he wanted to storm outside into the wizarding world and start his tasks right now, his head suddenly burst into pain so badly that he rushed to the bathroom and threw up.

There was something in his body leaving him feeling like he was overflowing from the inside. Something had changed, he could feel in his body and mind that there was a power that hadn't been there before. I felt so overwhelmingly powerful that he needed almost an hour to stop his head and stomach from rebelling against him. 

After he had gotten his head out of the toilet he mechanically dressed and went through his trunk looking for his money. He took only half of it, already planning his trip to Gringotts to stock up for his next school year. 

He went out through the backdoor of the pub, only nodding to the owner before leaving through the secret door by the dumpster.

It was melancholic and bitter-sweet to stroll through Diagon Alley; seeing it full of happy and carefree people felt almost like a fever dream to him. When was the last time he went shopping here without fearing for his life? It must have been over two years ago when he last saw kids pulling their parents into shops, muggles eyeing everything with such fascination that he was taken back to the time when Hagrid first introduced him to the Wizarding world. Going back made him realize even more what he had lost, and Harry wasn't sure if it was a curse or a blessing to redo the last five years.

His first stop was the paper shop on the other side of the street, one he had never been in before, and he bought paper rolls, standard quills, ink, and a hexed notebook that filled with pages at the spot where you needed them. It would function as his diary, to write down everything he was going to do while he still had a chance. Maybe he would start taking magic pictures of his loved ones whilst he still could, already regretting not to have it done before. 

He didn't have a picture of him with Ron and Hermione, even though they had been together for over eight years. 

On the checkout, he saw the Daily Prophet, with his godfather on the front page screaming for dear life. He smiled a little crookedly and added one to his stack. How long till he could see his face again? How long till he could hug him, and finally tell him the great things his brother had done? Every minute without him seemed like one wasted, so he put him as his top priority. He was the closest Harry had to a father, and he was the one he wanted by his side living this life again. 

Whilst on his way to Madam Malkin he thought of how to reach out to him. A coded message in the Daily Prophet? Should he visit his parent's’ grave and house to look there for him? Or would there be a horde of Aurors waiting for him? How should he contact him without putting him in danger? He almost didn't pay attention to Madam Malkin's smalltalk whilst she measured him from tip to toe and fitted multiple robes for him. He would pick them up at the end of his trip when he had gotten the rest of his equipment, and being quiet was nothing unusual for him.

Books, money, and some ingredients for his following Potion classes were bought pretty quickly, and he kept wondering if he should risk it. I needed more things that he couldn't buy in Diagon Alley, and especially not whilst looking like himself. 

The things he desired were in Knockturn Alley, in dark corner stores that were hidden and abandoned by most of the Wizarding world. He stuffed himself into an ally behind Florean Fortescue's Ice Parlour and waited to see whether he was followed. When he didn't see anyone suspicious, he turned around to his reflection in a shop window. 

He might not be tracked right now, but his wand was monitored by the Ministry of Magic, and he could not risk breaking any more rules of underage magic. So he had to use wandless magic to transform into someone else. 

His hand stroked through his hair, coloring it a dirty rust-red whilst forming a smooth ponytail at the back of his neck. Harry was surprised how easy it was for him to grow a good 20cm and lighten his eyes to a piercing green-blue color. He had a lot of trouble in the past to even perform the simplest tasks without a wand, not having enough control over his powers. But now it seemed to be as easy as swinging his wand and speaking the spell out loud. Maybe because of his time travel? He would research it later, but now he had other things to do.

His first stop was a rather unexciting bookstore, where he bought a massive tomb about dark healing charms, followed by The Nightshade for Necromancy. They had a range of books he had only seen at 12 Grimmauld Place, with books so dark that he would be thrown out of school immediately if spotted with them. He decided to only buy the ones about the Dark Arts that he knew he couldn't find at the restricted area in Hogwarts, since he was going to have access to them soon enough. 

Harry paid 9 whole Galleons for his shopping, 6 for The Nightshade of Necromancy, since it was almost considered illegal, and another three for the one about dark healing charms. 

He was sure that he was going to find the one that saved Draco in his last year. 

The old man behind the counter smiled with a mouthful of black teeth and bowed a little whilst taking the money from Harry, who felt like he had just been thrown a slimy snail at his face.

Even though it hurt him a little to spend his father's money in such a scabby shop, he really needed some expertise in the Dark Arts. Whilst Snape had taught him in Occlumency, he knew that there was more he needed to know. So after he stuffed his books into a brown paper bag, he went on his way to Borgin and Burkes where he had landed accidentally "last year" after the incident with the Floo-Powder. This time he was prepared for the weird stuff standing around and knew better than to put his hands into them.

He wanted to take a closer look at some of the things that could wreak havoc in the wrong hands but looked so inviting at the same time. Harry felt the dirty gaze of the owner on him the whole time whilst walking through the rows, smiling to himself. Most of the stuff sold here could be straight out of Dumbledore's office, if it only would have been made with white magic. 

One vitrine particularly caught his eye. It was laid out in dark velvet, with a pricy-looking wooden bookstand. The whole thing was dusty and Harry could almost feel the dark magic it was radiating on his tongue. 

"The memorial of Salazar Slytherin," it said in bold golden letters and Harry almost choked on his spit. 

How could this be possibly on sale? And why was it here, out for everybody to see and only protected by a thin glass panel? Tom Riddle would have bought this book immediately and would have turned it into a Horcrux on sight. Maybe even in the store, with the owner as his victim. Harry knew that Tom had worked here after school, and he couldn't figure out why the book was still here.

"You can read this, boy?" his voice was scratchy and itchy on Harry's back, and it took all his will not to spin around on the spot.

"Why shouldn't I? It's in English." 

Harry thought about manipulating his voice at the last second, making it raspy and dark before he made straight eye contact with the man behind him. It was the owner, who let out a dry laugh before answering. 

"All I see is ssz sßßßsszzs´ szzsßßs zszzs szzsß or something like that. It's in Parseltongue, the whole thing. Made it pretty hard to sell. Keep it only around to attract attention."

He didn't hide his starring, and Harry only raised a single eyebrow. He had no idea what treasure he held in his hands, and Harry wouldn't be the one who was going to tell him. Harry wasn't sure if he was able to buy it, but at least he knew now that his Parseltongue hadn't been compromised. It seemed like he still had the abilities he had at the time of thirteen, even though he had lost them in his old life.

What if he still was a Horcrux? What did Dumbledore say? "You are free to live your life, you are not a Horcrux anymore Harry, don´t forget about it." That would be a no then. Did he see something like this coming? No, no way. This was even too high for the old man.

"I will buy it," Harry declared confidently.

The man eyed him suspiciously. "You are the first and only one to be able to buy it. 5 Galleons, take it and leave, so that I can stuff something new in there."

Harry raised the corner of his lips into a smug smile. He even bowed a little while taking it out of the owner's hands, who didn't seem as sure of his offer anymore. He hurried out of the store after paying, not turning back until he almost entered Diagon Alley when he heard a scream. His blood froze when he recognized where he heard that sound before. 

It was Natalie McDonald, a fellow Gryffindor girl that he had last seen at the Battle of Hogwarts, crouched over the dead body of her best friend. She must be around ten years old, too young to go to Hogwarts, but he already saw her pride and courage whilst fighting three older Witches holding baskets full of things Harry didn't want to imagine. 

With as much authority he could manage he stormed in. "What is the problem here?" His voice barely contained his anger, and he wasn't surprised that the three of them only spared him one look and hushed away. 

"Come on out here, this is no place for a little girl." Harry tried to sound calm and friendly, and he gave credit to the girl for not straight-up running away from him. She rather stood up from the ground, gathered her ash-covered dress, and eyed him with caution in her gaze.

He sighed and looked down at her. "Floo-Powder I guess? Happened to me in my second year." He huffed and turned around to the exit. "Diagon Alley is this way, but I would like to escort you to your parents, if that's alright? I just have to get something real quick before that though. Just wait before the window for me ´kay?"

Within two minutes he came out of the small corner store where he had spied a Golden Amulet before. He stuffed the time turner into his pocket whilst gesturing to the girl to follow him, taking her by the hand and walking through the growing crowds around them. When they entered the main street he lifted her over the heads of bystanders, so that she could look for her parents.

"There's Mum!" screamed Natalie, and a young woman with red hair turned around, a panicked expression on her face. When she saw Harry putting the girl back on the ground she cried out in relief, running towards them.

"Natalie, by Merlin's Beard, where have you been? I've been dying of worry! Is everything alright, are you okay?" 

She only nodded and allowed her mom to embrace her, and Harry saw that as a sign to start explaining. 

"She probably Floo-Powed into one of the pubs in Knockturn Alley, I found her on the street with some herb witches. Try to speak more clearly next time; I had to learn that the hard way too." Harry grinned down at her, while she shyly smiled back. "I wish you two a good day, goodbye."

Enjoy the time you have left together.  
The mother had other plans though. "Oh no, can't I invite you for lunch, as thanks for saving my daughter? There aren't that many kind people left, and now that that lunatic broke out of prison, who knows what could have happened to a lost girl like her…" 

Harry flinched when he realized that she was talking about Sirius, and he was about to declare that he would never do such things, but held himself back. She wouldn't believe him anyway, no matter what he said. And somehow he couldn't blame her. 

"So please, Mr....?"

"Arcturus" The name left Harry's lips before he could even think about it. He didn't know why Sirius' brother's second name was the first one on his mind, but it somehow seemed fitting. 

"Oh, that is an interesting name! I am Romelda, and that is my daughter Natalie. Please join us for lunch; it would be no bother."

Since he didn't know how to decline without giving too much away, he simply nodded and followed them into a restaurant down the street. It was filled with people, and while entering Harry got a glimpse of his reflection in the glass window. 

His hair started to shrink again, his eyes went back to their dark green color and he could make out the first curls forming in his ponytail. With a hand stroke through his hair, he brought it back to the long, red disguise and rubbed his eyes under his glasses to lighten them up again. 

He really should do something about his blindness, Harry thought when he almost couldn't make out the faces around him without them. 

They found a small table in the corner of the room, and he ordered a Goulash soup and a Butterbeer by one of the house-elves working there. He made a mental note not to come here with Hermione to avoid her going feral over the way some house-elves were treated.

"So, how does it happen that someone who helps a lost child back to their mother shops at a place like Knockturn Alley?" There was a sharp edge in her voice as if she was rather trying to make him confess to something illegal than starting a conversation. 

"Well, while I certainly favor the Dark Arts, that doesn't make me a heartless person. My choice in magic doesn't define my character, or turns me into someone bad." 

It made his skin itch that dark magic was being put into the same drawer as being a bad person, and he scolded himself for believing in it himself for way too long. He knew better now, and it was on him to clean up some bad stigmas. 

"So you aren't even denying it!" Her voice was loud enough to turn heads from the nearby tables, and she quickly waved her hand as an apology to them. 

"Please Mrs, don't scream, I think it scares Natalie after what happened today." The girl did look uncomfortable, but he couldn't tell if it was because of the screaming or if she was just embarrassed. It calmed her mother's voice down anyway.  
"I am trying to make it clear to people that the dark arts aren't bad per se. It's the intention that makes them bad, not their heritage. There are dark healing spells for a reason."

She seemed to be torn between shutting him down again or listening to him since she couldn't deny the logic in his words. 

"Look, for an example. Wingardium Leviosa isn't an evil or dark spell right?"

"Of course not, it's a simple spell you learn in first year and use every day. Where is this going?" 

"Good. So let's say, you were in Hogwarts, having a picnic at the top of the Astronomy Tower with some housemates. And without a warning one of them takes out their wand, uses a simple Wingardium Leviosa, leaving you flying over the railing, and then lets you fall to your death. But by chance, there is a boy at the foot of the tower, who knows the Dark Arts and summons an invisible net functioning as a trampoline. He saves you from crashing down into the ground, but he used a dark spell. Which one of the two is now more evil?"

Romelda was silent for a while, stroking the hair of her daughter, and seemed to seriously think about what he had said. "You are right, of course, the one who hexed me is more evil, but that is a very specific example. You can generalize it over a fictional scenario." 

"So let's get a little more realistic then." Harry realized how much passion he gained in this argument. He wanted this woman to understand his point of view, and to maybe even change hers to a more open one. 

"You are dueling. Your enemy uses dark magic, and you light magic. White magic is too weak to hold against the dark, to gain momentum and win, whilst the dark uses up by far too much energy. In a long or serious battle, a dark or white wizard alone stands no chance, whilst the one who mastered both forms will most likely come out as the winner. 

Look, Romelda, I am not trying to lure you into the dark arts, Merlin beware, I am just trying to show you that dark doesn't mean evil and that white magic can cause harm and pain as well. It's the intention that counts, and I can assure you that mine was positive throughout." 

He nodded to the house-elves carrying their food and smiled softly at his opposite. She wrinkled her brows whilst taking her orders of the tablet and sent him an analyzing gaze. If she was looking for false intentions or something that spoke against his words, she didn't seem to find it. With a sigh, she lowered her gaze to Natalie, who had already begun to demolish her plate of Cottage Pie and glass of Pumpkin Juice, before slowly returning his smile.

"I know that you are right, but it is still hard not to judge the ones perusing the Dark Arts. I am sorry to put you in the same drawer like the ones who did the unforgivable. 

You should go into politics or teaching, with how good of a speaker you are.”

He laughed a little more sincerely than before, because yes, he did hear that before. Maybe he was going to take it to heart this time around.

They clinked their Butterbeer together before he finished his bowl and said his farewell. It was nice to relax and eat out with happy chattering around him, and not being constantly reminded of the horrors that had happened to them. He lefts saying that he still had some shopping to do, and Romelda bit her tongue in order not to ask where.

He returned to the Ally behind the ice-cream saloon, turning into himself again, and went on his way to Madam Malkin's to pick up his robes. Whilst waiting for her to make the last adjustments, he noticed a pretty pouch that seemed to be made of snakeskin. 

It was made out of black and silver leather and shimmered in the setting sun. He could see himself wearing it with his cloaks and maybe one of those cool suits, so he grabbed it and put it on the counter next to his waiting school uniform. 

Harry had an idea of what to do with it, but that would have to wait till he was in Hogwarts.

"Here my dear, two sets of Gryffindor robes, one pair of gloves, and oh, this one too?" She picked up the pouch, weighing it in her hand. 

"Yes, please"

"Well my dear, that would make, let me think… 13 Galleons and 11 Sickles for the school uniforms and gloves, and another 4 Galleons and 7 Sickles for the pouch. Is that all right?" 

She seemed a little worried about the amount of money, but this time Harry had no second thoughts about spending his parents’ allowance this time. "Well then, I´m going to pack this up for you, only one second…" 

She wrapped the robes with a flick of her wand into a cream-colored package, not without sneaking a pack of Hocus Pocus Pops into his order.

He smiled putting the coins onto the counter and waved goodbye while leaving the store. Hocus Pocus Pops weren't his favorite sweets per se, but for him, it was the thought that matted. He ripped the package open, took the small box out, and closed it again with a simple glue charm.

Lavender exploded in his mouth while he sucked on one of the small pops that formed a firework of sweet and sour, mixed with the flowery undertone of Lavender. Yup, they still weren't his favorite. He scrunched his face up and swallowed the whole thing. It left his throat feeling funny, but that was still better than the overwhelming sensation that that thing was before. 

He was left with a sudden desire to buy sweets, so he headed straight to 93rd Diagon Alley ready to spend his money at the Weasley twins before he realized that Fred and George hadn't opened their shop yet. Was there another sweet store nearby? He couldn't really remember the time before W&W had opened their shop with more than just sweets, and he already missed them. 

And their bruise removal paste, Skiving Snack box, and his absolute favorite; Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. 

Maybe he would help them out earlier this time, while both of them were still alive and with all their body parts. He saw Fred’s body lying on the ground, grinning about his brother's joke, unaware of what was to follow. 

His twin screaming over his dead body, Percy going mad, Ron crying, Ginny collapsing, all of them losing hope over the loss of the boy that never stopped joking, never stopped making others smile and suddenly stopped breathing.

He took a few shaking breaths, the loss still so deeply imprinted in his mind that he had to remind himself over and over again that he is still alive, still breathing, still joking with his twin. Harry swore to himself to never let his smile fade again. 

Only after he calmed down again, pushing the memories back into his mind as far as he could, he realized that he had been standing in front of Sugar Plums Sweet Store all along. The sweet scent coming from the shelves was almost sickening, but so was everything at the moment for Harry, so he entered anyway. 

There was quite a crowd inside, but he pushed through, looking for whatever would take his mind off the war. Chocolate frogs covered the whole corner of the store, advertising newly added cards, and an offer. 7 for 5 it said and Harry didn't hesitate. Lupin had told him so many times to eat chocolate to calm down, and it had helped him ever since.

Lupin who was cold and dead lying next to the mother of his child, another orphan, just like him, just as lonely. Remus and Tonks’ face morphed into the ones of James and Lily, he saw a green light flashing, he saw red lights flashing, he heard screams, moans, mixed with the crumbling of stone, he smelled blood, death, agony, wet dirt from the forest he died in. 

Nothing was okay, he was back on the battlefield, his friends fell all around him, he couldn't help, he couldn't fight, he couldn't scream, he couldn't, he couldn't, he couldn't…

All he could do was shove his nose into the nearest package, into something that wasn't chocolate and would bring him out of his panic attack. And it worked. 

Harry smelled sugar, lemon acid, colorant, and something else that made him gag. 

Fizzing Whizzbees were once his favorite sweets until he found out that they used actual Billywig stings as their secret ingredient to make a person hover over the ground while eating them. He never touched one after that, and he wouldn't start now. 

So he went with seven chocolate frogs, several toffee mice, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Butterscotch, and Dragon Claws, simply because they looked cool. And because Sirius liked them more than anything else. No, he told himself off, not again, not here, not now. 

Harry hurried to the counter, smashed some coins down, and almost ran out of the store. He was pretty sure he had paid way more than he had to, but that didn't matter now. All he could think about was how good the toffee stuck to his teeth, how the frogs moved before they melted in his mouth, or how he finally got a halfway decent bean-like grape jelly. 

He was already halfway through his bag before being able to think straight again. 

Harry grabbed his growing stack of packages before heading to Eeylops Owl Emporium to get treats for his Hedwig. He wanted to spoil her to make up for all the time he neglected her. She was here; she was flying around and giving mice and cats heart attacks. Right now he didn't have to worry about her wellbeing. About nothing, but how he sacrificed her for himself.

He bit down angrily on a frog that tried to escape his mouth, before stopping suddenly. The package of Eeylops Premium Owl Treats still in hand, he stood in the middle of a one-way street. It was dark already, the noise from hundreds of shopping wizards was gone, and he didn't see a single person around. He must have wandered off far since he didn't realize a single building and there was no indicator of where he was.

Harry turned on his heel, ready to walk back the way he came from, before he saw a glimpse of black fur. Snapping his head around so fast he almost heard it crack, he spied a tousled tail disappearing behind a dumpster and into a side alley, Harry hadn't noticed before. His blood froze when he realized where knew that tail from. 

"PADFOOT!"

Harry dropped what he held and sprinted after the dog. He saw him sliding on gravel before coming to a stop, not five meters between them. Grey eyes looked into Harry's and tears shot into his. Sirius was scrawny, his black fur muddied and thin; he looked even worse than Harry remembered. 

"Oh god Sirius, you have no idea how much I missed you." Tears rolled over his cheeks and sobs shook his body so bad he almost couldn't speak while he fell to his knees. "Please don't leave, never leave again Pads, you are all the family that I have left."

He was so relieved to see his godfather again that he almost didn't notice that he had closed the distance between them and nudged his snout against his head. Bloodshot eyes met ones full of hesitation, irritation, and sorrow and Harry couldn't help throwing himself at the only person he wanted to be here with him now.

Harry didn't let go of him until the last ray of sunlight was already long gone and he managed to take his arms from Sirius.

"Sorry about that, I just couldn't stop myself. Please, I really should go back to my hotel room before they start a search party for me. Could… could you please come with me? I can explain, you know, this." He laughed through his tears and gestured with his hands between the two of them. Padfoot nodded, but still eyed his godson with worry. 

"Okay, okay, that's good, I just need to get my stuff, you know, and then find the way out of here… Do you know where we are?" 

His answer was a nod from Sirius' side, the black dog under him, and Harry could feel another wave of tears form. This was really happening, and Merlin, it was so overwhelming his knees still trembled under his weight. His shaking legs alert Sirius, and he nodded to him from the side. With a shaky smile, he walked back to where he first saw Sirius and picked up what he had dropped. Padfoot almost drooled when he spied the pack of Dragon Claws between the other sweets and Harry laughed over his godfather, ruffling his head.

They walked back in silence; only Harry's sniffs disturbed their walk back to the Leaky Cauldron. Nobody crossed their path, only at the pub that stood for the entrance to the Wizarding World from muggle London were a few creatures hanging over half-empty glasses. Harry waved hello to the barkeeper, before walking up the stairs to his room to finally speak with his godfather.

The door closed behind them, and Harry threw his shopping onto his bed. He took a shaky breath before going through his shopping and trunk to lay out an outfit for Sirius. 

Harry enlarged them to fit Sirius, before turning to face him. He lay on the carpet under his bed, not taking his eyes off the boy in front of him.

"Here, for you. Take a shower and brush your teeth, there should be a spare one in the cabinet. I´m sorry that all I can offer is a school uniform, but I didn't think I would meet you this soon." He nervously rubbed his neck whilst turning to the door. "Uhm, I'm going to grab something to eat real quick, kay? I will be back in a minute." 

His eyes swept over his room, getting stuck on his shopping. "Please, my shopping is an absolute no-go, okay? Keep your hands off it, I mean it. There will be consequences." 

He could punch himself the second the words left his mouth. This here was Sirius, who would disobey his plea simply because he couldn't help himself. If only he had just shut his mouth.

Harry sighed. "Just leave it, okay buddy? Wait till I come back, get ready, and then we will talk about everything." He sent a small smile towards him, before closing the door behind him and hurrying down the hallway and stairs. Harry heard silent footsteps behind him, indicating that Sirius had transformed back into his human form. 

He understood that he didn't want Harry or anybody else to see him now, judging on how he looked in the latest photograph. Now that Harry knew how handsome and proud his godfather used to be, it hurt his soul to think of the broken and washed down version of him he used to know. He wished he had known him before he went to Azkaban to nearly turn insane. 

Harry ordered a big lasagne with extra meat and two large Butterbeers by Tom, anxiously tapping his fingers on the table while waiting. Not even twenty minutes later his order was finished, and Harry thanked heaven for magic in the kitchen. When he came back into his room he saw Sirius curled into himself on his bed, The Nightshade Guide to Necromantic between his paws, and a look of reproach and guilt in his eyes.

Of course, he had gone through his stuff, of course, he had. Harry looked at the door and lay a Muffliato over the room. What they had to discuss was not meant for strangers' ears. He put down the lasagne between them and shoved a Butterbeer towards his godfather. There was a lot he wanted to get off of his chest, but as soon as he would start about The Nightshade Guide to Necromantic Padfoot would start throwing a tantrum. So he went with something easier. 

"Please turn back into yourself, I have known who you are for a long time now Sirius Black." A small smile curled on Harry's lips, while he watched his godfather opposite him jump off the bed and turn into the man he called his family. His hair was still damp and ruffled and his eyes were the same color as the ones of the dog., Otherwise, there was no indicator of who his Animagus form could be. Harry trembled after seeing him, alive and, well, he wouldn't say healthy, but at least not dying. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay, I´m here, it's okay, I´m not leaving you alright little guy? Just, like, take a deep breath, and, ahem, do you, ahh, do you want me to hug you?, You 'know, like, if it helps?"

He sounded so unsure and out of his comfort zone that Harry cried even harder while he hugged him as tight as he could. Arms around his chest and nose buried deep in the crease of his neck he cried and laughed so hard at the same time it hurt him in his throat.

"Harry, please, I don't know how to help now, but we will figure it out together, okay? There is just one thing I have to, I have to find--”

“Peter, I know, I know, just give me a moment alright?" Harry finished for him.

"How on earth---?"

"That's not the only question you will ask that for, but I can't explain everything right now, that would be too much at once. So now to the other part… Yes, I read The Nightshade Guide to Necromantic and, Sirius, calm down now, and yes, I favor the Dark Arts, and, most importantly, no, I am not going to fall into them and I am not going to turn into a second Lord Voldemort. So please, take a seat, here, and try the Butterbeer, it's really good, believe me." He was still sniffing and his throat was sore, but he could handle it.

Sirius did as he was told, closing his eyes in the recollection of when he had a Butterbeer the last time. It might have even been with his parents, Harry thought, while Sirius was lost in thoughts and memories of a time long ago.  
"Okay, what do you want to know first?"

It was entertaining how he furrowed his brows, eyes lingering on the steaming plate in front of him. He looked like Harry had asked him a hard question about the goblin war, and not about his preferences.

"How do you know," he took a deep breath, preparing himself for an answer he might not want to hear, "that I am your godfather, my teenage nickname and that I am after Peter? By galloping goblins, who told you all of that?!"

"Okay, let's start small here. Feel free to eat some of the lasagne; I brought it up here for you. So, you are a former Black-" 

Sirius flinched when he mentioned his last name.

"-and you must have been in your house library quite a few times right? So you probably came across Horcruxes right?"

"DON'T YOU DARE HARRY, DON'T YOU DARE!!! YOUR PARENTS WOULD KILL ME IF YOU WOULD; AND THEN YOU AND THEN THEMSELVES! I SWEAR BY MERLIN; IF YOU---"

He didn't get further, because Harry cuffed his hands over his mouth and giggled. The spell to silence the room might not work as well as he would like it to, so he had to intervene in his godfather's raging speech before someone called the Aurors.

"Not me, you dunk stuck, Voldemort. Seven of them, to be specific. The last one unintended when mum died. He had seven Horcruxes, seven parts of his splinted souls, preserved in objects or living things. The last one, the most important one, was me. He had turned me into a Horcrux, by killing my mother."

"What do you mean he had?" 

Harry understood him even though his mouth was now full of cheese and tomato sauce. It wasn't a sight for sore eyes, but he didn't comment on it. After all, he must have been starving out on the streets.

"Well, I destroyed them. Most of them. See, and now please listen carefully and don't intervene, okay? 

I was seventeen when I woke up yesterday. I fought in a war that doesn't exist yet, and will hopefully never exist, and I died at the end of it. But right before that, I used the Resurrection Stone to see my dead parents, and they gave me a necklace with a golden pearl." He pointed at the metal chain around his neck, avoiding the parts of the story where more people he knew died.

"The pearl was the golden tear of a Phoenix. Do you know what that means?"

Sirius shook his head and Harry continued.

"Well, I didn't either, so don't worry. A Phoenix that is loyal to you can gift you a single golden tear, that if touched, fulfills a wish. Whatever wish you desire most, you will get it. Fawks, Dumbledore's Phoenix, cried that tear for him once, but he preserved it for me and left it hidden until the moment I knew I was going to die. Yesterday, when I was seventeen and the second last Horcrux left, I had to sacrifice myself to make Lord Voldemort mortal again.

I got hit by the Avada Kedavra, the killing curse, and came into a realm between life and death. Dumbledore was there, already dead for years at this point, and explained halfway what had happened. My blood was still in Voldemort's body, and that bound me to the realm of the living.

He had used it to come back to life after his curse backfired the night my parents died, back in my fourth year. 

So, while I was in the realm, I was granted my heart's deepest desire; to go back and make right what was done wrong the first time. 

I woke up in my thirteen-year-old body before Voldemort returned and I still could influence how history would play out. This is still my first day here, and that is why I am a little… agitated." 

"I died, didn't I?"

Harry took a sharp breath. Sirius sounded so, well, serious, when he stated what Harry had tried not to mention.

"Yes, yes you died. Fifth-year, you got hit by a spell that made you fall into the veil. I never really got over it, to be honest, we only had so little time together." There was so much pain in Harry's voice it hurt Sirius to only listen to it.

"Do I wanna know who it was? Who fired that curse?"

"Bellatrix, in a battle with some other Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix. I had only known you for two and a half years at that point, and I spent one of them thinking you were the murderer of my parents and trying to catch you because of it. That's how I found out about Peter, at the end of my third year. The year that is now about to start… 

Look, I am a seventeen-year-old in the body of a thirteen-year one, in a timeline that I can change to every extent. I know what is going to happen, and I know how to prevent it. You have to trust me here, and let me do what I have to. I will let Remus know that you are innocent as soon as I am in Hogwarts, but until then everything, and I do mean everything is-" 

Harry eyed the book still lying between them. 

"more than top secret, do you understand? We will get Peter while he is still with the Weasleys and hand him over to the Ministerium and Dumbledore to prove that you are in fact innocent and not a murderer."

"You are just like your father, do you know that? He used to be the one always caring about others, making sure Remus and I never go overboard with our pranks. He was the mother hen of us four, especially over Peter and Remus. No matter what, he always put the needs of others and Quidditch over himself. Used to drive Lily mad how little care he took of himself, so she took us under her wing to help him out. She was just as bad as him, but together they took care of each other and us with them."

There were unspilled tears in Sirius' eyes while he remembered his best friends, his brothers. Harry knew that he still blamed himself over their deaths, a crime that weighed him down so much it almost crushed his whole being. Harry had always tried to take off the burden of a crime he didn't commit, but he had realized too late how much it had already eaten away on him. This time though, this time he was there to listen to his story and finally lift that weight off him, by making his innocence official.

"You know, you really grew on me as a father figure over the time I knew you. The Weasleys were great as a found family, but you were the one who knew my dad the most and was able to take over for him." He babbled out into the silence between them. 

"In my fifth year, Dumbledore founded the Order of the Phoenix again, just like they used to have over 15 years ago. You were in it too, and almost succeeded in making me a member as well. There was nothing I wanted more at the time than to take my part fighting, but Molly was against it. 

She was so furious, trying to shield me from what was going on outside Number 12 Grimmauld Place, that she couldn't see that I already saw enough of the war to try and end it then and there. I think it was the first argument Molly and I ever had. Didn't matter at the end though."

He lay down on his sheets, putting their empty glasses on the floor alongside the clean licked plate. Sirius behaves more like a dog than a human sometimes, he thought.

"We will have to go shopping tomorrow, and I have to research my next project. I think I am going to make one for you too, you´re gone need it more than me. 

It would probably be safer if you stayed a dog for a while, not that it would change that much." He nodded towards the empty plate, and Sirius glared in answer, before returning to his Animagus form. 

"The Weasley’s will return in a few days, and with them Peter. Please, you have to promise me to behave yourself. If you don't, the Ministry will get you and lock you away again, and then I stand no chance to help you out. I don't trust Dumbledore enough to help you as well, it seemed like he was okay with your suffering until now, and there had not been a change of heart from him until now. 

So, I know what Peter had done to you and all of your friends and family, me in particular, but he strangled himself with the hand he had gotten from Voldemort after he disobeyed him to save my life. It was too late, I know, and don't even start now, but killing him on the spot would only make things so much worse."

Padfoot seemed to understand the urgency that Harry's words held, and he didn't start to argue with him, only let a sharp blow of air out of his nostrils. 

"Good. I am still underage, and I can't use my wand until I’m at Hogwarts again, so I'm going to try to master the wandless- and dark arts on paper until then. Do you think that I will make it?"

Two dark grey eyes stared at him with such adoration that there was no doubt left in Harry when he turned off the light and said goodnight. He fell into a shallow sleep with his clothes still on, but all he could think about was that his family had finally returned to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, who order **_7934_ **word in one chapter? Nobody? Good, will will force them down you throught. Nothing aint stopping me now from litterly chopping of my hands in order to stop my fingers from turning numb.
> 
> Have a nice one here, leave lots of love and trie to not read that one Coffeeshop Au again, okay?


	3. Meeting of three Marauders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a lot of bickering happens.
> 
> With some foul language, nothing too bad but still :)

Harry woke up early the next morning. He hadn't slept well since his mind wouldn't stop spinning around what had happened the previous day; both as a seventeen-year-old and the actual yesterday.

He walked over to Padfoot, who was curled up at the foot of his bed and made his way to the bathroom without waking him up. Merlin knew how much sleep he had gotten while on the run, not that Azkaban had been any better. His morning routine was finished within a few minutes, and he was glad that there was no beard he had to shave off.  _ Maybe there were perks of being underage again. _

  
  


Coming back into the room was a bigger problem since Sirius had decided to stretch out his four limbs all over the space in front of his bed. Harry just sighed and left him alone, grabbing  _ The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy _ and began to read. He was so concentrated in the new world of spells and hexes that he didn't even realize that Sirius had woken up and was on his way to the bathroom.

  
  


It was only when he stood in front of Harry, one arm on his hip as he smashed the other one into the open page and threw the book on the ground that he realized he was there.

  
  


"Hey!"

  
  


"Harry, I have been trying to talk with you for the past 5 minutes now, and all you did was ignore me! You told me you wouldn't get lost in the Dark Arts, but from what I have seen, you already fell for them!"

  
  


Harry knew better than to argue with him, he earned while living with Siriusthat he most likely had just called his name once or twice and then grew frustrated about getting ignored. He was probably more outraged about his scraped ego than of Harry not answering his call.

So all he did was raise one eyebrow; an ability he had learned from Luna, whilst they were studying Ravenclaws’ tails. It came in handy now, as his godfather turned red around the ears over being called out on his antics.

  
  


"Just be careful, okay? I don't want to see you lose yourself in things that are too much for you to handle, so could you please start with something lighter? We can go to 12 Grimmauld Place and find something to start with, and after that, you can slowly go deeper into the material and specialize in what you deem interesting. Let me show you how to handle such matters please, I have already lost my brother to the Dark Arts, and I can't let you go down the same road!"

  
  


It bugged Harry that he couldn't start with his studies right away, but he saw how important it was for Sirius and agreed to his pleas. He had to travel to Grimmauld Place anyway, even though he was more interested in a certain closet than the library. There was a medallion, old, dusty and so full of evil it turned his best friends against everything he stood for, and he needed to destroy it.  _ But he had to get a Basilisk tooth first, and he couldn't transport the medallion safely into Hogwarts, in case somebody found it and went feral. _

  
  


So, first Hogwarts, the Chamber of Secrets, and then the medallion. And he would make his godfather relax a little more if he laid the Dark Arts to the side for a little while.  _ Only for a little though _ .

  
  


"Can we meet on the first Hogsmeade weekend? Assuming you will fill out my consent form for doing so. As my godfather, you know." 

  
  


He grinned at the man that was his legal guardian. Sirius’ chest rose to an extent that Harry wouldn't have thought was possible. He looked so,  _ so proud  _ that Harry thought he would sign everything as long as it made Harry happy. This was why he would always choose Sirius over Molly or Arthur;  _ Harry was Sirius’s first and most important priority, and he came second in the Weasley family _ . There was nothing wrong with it, but it was nice to finally have somebody who put him first.

  
  


Padfoot filled out the form that still lay at the bottom of Harry's trunk with a feather and a radiating grin. He even drew a paw print at the bottom of the page, next to his nickname.

  
  


"In case good 'old McGonny reads it and feels nostalgic. We had quite some fun together back in the days, you 'know."

  
  


"Let's hope she takes it well and doesn't run to Dumbledore with it… I don't want to tell him that I time traveled, I have a feeling that he would only take advantage of it. Nobody else should know about it from now on, ‘kay?

  
  


I only have to come up with a story for Moony and Dumbledore on how I found out you were innocent. Do you have any ideas?"

  
  


All he received as an answer was Sirius scratching his full beard. While Harry didn't need a shave, he couldn't say the same about Padfoot.  _ They would need to get a razor and shaving cream, that was for sure _ .

  
  


"Let's go shopping first, we can think about it on our way. You need proper robes, I’m sorry but those look ridiculous on you, maybe a suit? Or rather a cape, what do you think?"

  
  


"I never looked ridiculous in my life! Not even once!"

  
  


He threw Harry an indignant look as if he didn't look hideous in the grey jumper that was still too small and the pants that showed the lower half of his very hairy calf. Not even starting on his face which was ungroomed and made him look ten years older than he was, but still wore the expression of a toddler that had his Sippy cup taken away from him.

  
  


"Hmh, whatever you say, buddy. We should probably visit Olivanders as well as the pharmacy and, no matter what you say, Knockturn Alley. Here, entertain yourself with those while I get ready, I know you already sneaked some when I wasn't looking yesterday." 

  
  


The look of a dog getting caught chewing his owner's shoes that was sent Harry's way made him crackle while he threw the badly closed package of Dragon Claws into Sirius' lap. 

  
  


"If you behave like a  _ good boy _ today, I might even buy you more, but you have to listen, do you understand?"

  
  


Padfoot looked so offended and indignant that Harry burst into full belly laughter. 

  
  


"I take back everything I said about you being like your father! You are just like Moony, only worse! Even he left me some dignity!"

  
  


"Not a lot though. Judging on how you speak with your snout full. I once knew someone who did the same, but, you know,  _ he _ was an actual dog. Maybe I should introduce you two, I am sure you would become good buddies!"

  
  


Sirius hurled a pair of socks at him, followed by a cry for revenge, but Harry already closed the bathroom door to get changed.

  
  


He packed his bag after he got out of Sirius's chokehold;  _ he had ruffled the hair he tried so hard to make look halfway decent into something that most likely resembled a Diricawl _ . Maybe he couldn't live with a Potter looking better than him.

  
  


Harry even packed the invisibility cloak. Padfoot turned into his Animagus and they went on their way to Gringotts. They got a few side glares while walking down the streets, but now that he showered, Sirius looked more like a big pet than a bad omen straight out of hell.  _ Not that he behaved any better. _ He kept rushing forwards to  _ Quality Quidditch Supplies _ , pushing scared children out of his way to sit in front of the newest broom, the Firebolt. 

  
  


Harry had to seriously threaten him that he  _ could and would _ put him on a leash if he kept running away and that even his puppy eyes weren't going to help him then. It actually worked and Harry started to consider writing a book on how to train a dog. 

  
  


_ The 101 to a behaving pet,  _ written by  _ The Boy That Survived having his house trashed by a childish hell do _ . It would be a bestseller in time, that's for sure. If he ever got money problems, so probably never.

  
  


Harry still smiled about his joke when they entered the halls of the Wizarding Bank and asked the head goblin a very important question. 

  
  


"How do I take large amounts of money out of my vault without having to carry dozens of kilograms of coins around with me?"

  
  


Harry had to bite back a sassy comment after receiving a judging look from the goblin.

  
  


"Merlin, child, where have you been living? There is a pouch for a reason in the vault, or do you think we carry gold and silver around in our pockets?" 

The urge to call him out on his bullshit grew overwhelmingly, but he managed to not even roll his eyes.  _ How should he have known? _ Hagrid never mentioned an extra carrier bag and made him carry it by hand, and he had always thought that Wizards were just too set in their ways to come up with something to enhance their old-fashioned money system.

  
  


He accessed his vault, taking out a good amount of golden galleons and silver sickels and two pouches with an extension and feather-light charm, before trotting back to Ollivanders.

  
  


“God, I hate this coin system. Who came up with this? 17 Sickles in a Galleon, 29 Knuts in a Sickle. That makes, wait, 493 Knuts in a Galleon! Who actually knows how expensive something is in this system? Nobody!

  
  


Even the muggles came up with a better system. 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 pence, and 1 and 2 pounds in coins, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 pounds in notes. No need for living like you are in the middle ages and need to melt your coins into weapons if another war breaks out.”

  
  


Sirius barked at him, in a manner that Harry interpreted as understanding. Harry huffed once more before they entered Ollivanders together.

  
  


"Ahh, Mr. Potter, what can I do for you? I hope you don't require a new wand, yours was truly unique and very hard to duplicate, if not impossible."

  
  


Mr. Ollivander was still old, still grey, and the whole store was still dusty. Cleaning up would be done within a wink with one of the  thousands of wands here, so why didn't he just dust everything down?  _ Harry had done it since he could walk for the Dursleys, and he had no magic for that. _

  
  


"No, I don't need one for myself, it's more of a family matter so to speaks. If I can ask, would you sell a wand to everyone that needs one? And would you hold absolute silence over the purchases? Even if it would be for Voldemort himself?"

  
  


Olivander flinched at the mention of the name of You-know-who and stared at him uncomprehendingly.  _ Oh right, people are still afraid of calling him by his first name.  _ How stupid.

  
  


"If that were the case, and I hope for all of ours sake that it is not, well, what should I say… Denying a wizard control over his powers is something I can't stand behind, no matter what the Ministry of Magic says about it. Why is this of such importance for you, young sir?"

  
  


"Maybe we should take this conversation into a backroom, to not attract any unwanted ears."

  
  


He understood the wink with the fence-post and let the three of them into a small room overflowing with wands and big boxes filled with what seemed to be hair and large pieces of wood. Just clean up,  _ please _ .

  
  


"You heard about Sirius Black’s story." It wasn't a question, more a statement. 

  
  
  


"How he came to Azkaban, lost his wand and his whole life with it? Good, because all of it is wrong. He is innocent, and he had paid for a crime that wasn't committed by him. I will set his story straight as soon as the school year starts, but he needs a wand now, there is no going around it. Would you sell him one like you did when he first came here at eleven years old?"

  
  


Olivander stood dumbstruck in front of him, not moving a single muscle.

  
  


"You brought a convicted murderer into my store, and expect me to sell him the weapon he needs to kill more innocent people?! Are you possessed by all that's evil, or did he trick you into asking me for such treason?"

  
  


"I swear that he is not the person he is depicted as, and to prove it, we will turn in the real murderer of my parents, but we need that wand for it. I will take the  _ Unbreakable Vow _ to prove his innocence, as long as you swear to take it and not tell anybody." 

  
  


He still hesitates, not trusting a pre-teen with a decision that could make Ollivander spend the rest of his life in the worst place on earth. But Harrys was determined and honest, and somehow he didn't throw them out of his shop. 

  
  


"If you insist on this Mr. Potter, I agree. And I guess I already met Mr. Black?"

  
  


Sirius turned back into his human form and grinned sheepishly. "Guess it had been a long time no see Olli. Hope you don't pull out that tape again to measure my ear loops."

  
  


"That won't be necessary today, I believe. Go to your right and try drawer 27, row 128, as well as 45, 97, and 108. If they don't choose you, give 362 and 250 a try, maybe your determination has changed too much over the years to suit the others. If there is still no match I will customize what I think would work best for you, Black."

  
  


Ollivander turned to Harry, an unsatisfied look on his face. "And the two of us will take the vow to seal the deal. Are you still sure of your actions, young Potter? The consequences can and will be fatal if you break your agreement. If he is going to commit another murder I will not hesitate to publish your name as his helper."

  
  


"I can assure you that I know what I am up against, and I stand by my word. Sirius will be set free in less than a month, you will hear it all over the news. Now, if you would start the vow, my hands are bound by the laws against underage magic."

  
  


The vow was quick and painless, it bound their fates together and didn't even leave a mark on their bodies.

  
  


"Now, that would be seven Galleons, please. I have other customers to hand their first wands over, and not limitless amounts of time on my hands. Mr. Black had found his match, and I have to ask you to leave my store as soon as you pay."

  
  


"How do you--?"

  
  


"Harry, I found it! And it looks even cooler than my old one!"

  
  


Ollivander smiled dully at Harry before turning back to the main room. "I have my secrets as well, Mr. Potter. Now, please, my payment."

  
  


They handed over the seven coins, Sirius turned back into his dog form and they left the store with the burning sensation of two eyes on their backs.

  
  


The door had just closed after them when Harry heard a voice he hated as much as Umbridge. 

  
  


"Harry Potter got himself a pet  _ and such an aggressive-looking one at that _ . Is this to  compensate for what is missing in his character? Or should it make up for the lost family on dark and lonely nights? Tell me, Harry, what made you buy such a", she waved her hand over Padfoot "lovely creature?"

  
  


Before Harry could tell her to screw off, she had already taken a picture of the two of them. He stood there, about to fall into a panic attack. 

  
  


_ No no no, this was not right, he had to get that picture back _ . It could ruin everything if Peter spotted Padfoot in the article and disappeared when he recognized him. Not to mention Remus, who would send out hordes of Aurors to hunt Sirius down if he thought Harry was in danger.

  
  


"Delete that picture, or I swear by my Mothers grave I will make you regret it."

  
  


"Well, you could of course trade the picture in for a detailed interview about the prisoner that escaped, so that I will think about publishing in the Daily Prophet. You can have it if you agree."

  
  


She smiled at him, and if he didn't know any better, he would have said it was sincere. He would not fall into her trap,  _ no way she would give up a story this big after the boring summer break _ . This would be her comeback for thousands of readers that only waited for her to drop dirt on her next victim. 

  
  


"I am not agreeing to such this, and it would be a shame if the Title page of the next issue would have your face printed on it, next to the headline  _ "Beetle finally squished between her lies" _ . How would that affect your new image, Rita? You could write a diary about your days in Azkaban, and maybe you would even get your interview with Sirius Black?"

  
  


"How- where did you- ?"

  
  


"I have an eye for things like that,  _ Skeeter _ . And I hate people who make a profit out of other people's misery, so if you don't hand that picture over right now, I won't hesitate to appear-, to Floo-Pow straight to the Minister of Magic and accuse you. Don't try me, it would not end well."

  
  


"It looks like the great Harry Potter tries to Blackmail a journalist of justice and truth, yes write that down feather, good, that will do.  _ How Slytherin of you _ … Harry Potter acts as if he belongs in the house so deeply connected with his parents' murderer. What a headline! The drama, the conflict, the expectations! Here, the photograph you want so desperately, we will speak about the promised interview again, don't think I forgot about it!"

  
  


She threw the piece of paper at them, before apparating into oblivion. Harry turned it around, only to find an empty piece of parchment.  _ The bitch _ .

"Shit, we have to go back immediately, she tricked us. If she publishes the picture before we get our hands on Peter, we are gonna have one hell of a problem. Come on, there is no time to explain, we have to leave now!"

  
  


They ran through the crowding streets, straight to the  _ Leaky Cauldron _ , and into their room. If they didn't make it before Rita posted that picture, Sirius would go back to prison, or he could get kissed. There was no way Harry would allow that to happen again.

The first thing he did was to write a note to Remus:

  
  


“Dear Remus, or Professor Lupin from now on;

I know that you were a close friend to my father James, and I have to talk to you very urgently. It's about Sirius Black. Please, wait at home for me to come and visit you this afternoon.

Please excuse the short notice, but there was no other way.

Harry James Potter”

  
  


He bound the letter onto Hedwig's leg, who was sleeping soundly after a night of hunting. Harry felt bad for waking her up, but she didn't seem to mind and headed straight to the window. The next thing was to find a container for Ron's rat.

  
  


"Sirius, help me, we need a small box with holes on the side. Don't make them too big, or Peter can and will escape."

It took them almost an hour to come up with a plan to capture and return the murderer of his parents safely into the hands of authority. 

  
  


_ If they could only apparate to the Weasleys, it would make things so much easier _ .

  
  


But they could apparate.

  
  


"Sirius, underage Wizards are not being watched by the Ministry when they apparate, right?" Harry called out.

Padfoot shook his head, and Harry started to concentrate on the task before him. This could not go wrong, it just couldn't.

  
  


"Okay, that is good, that's an idea… Here, take my hand, we are going to go on a quick trip."

  
  


As soon as the snout touched his hand he felt a force pulling him away from his room with a small plopping sound.

  
  
  
  


With the article about the Weasley family in one hand and the prepared box in the other, he appeared at a sandbank. Now, that he was standing ankle-deep in the sand, he realized how many holes his plan had, which consisted of  _ finding Ron, grabbing Peter, stuffing him into the box, and apparating back to his hotel room _ . He thought he would swing the rest as he had always done, and it had somehow always worked out.

  
  


_ Maybe there hadn't been that many problems on their adventures because he didn't make the plans _ , or if he had to he always did it with Hermione's help. Now that he thought about it, he realized that she had been his and Ron's impulse control because no way he would be standing in the middle of the desert without a plan to go along if she would be here.

  
  


"Well, the good news is we are in Egypt. Or at least I think we are."

  
  


There was dead silence between them, while both of them baked under the hot afternoon sun. Sirius started breathing heavily only a few seconds later since he couldn't sweat in his Animagus form and almost collapsed due to a heat stroke.  _ It's like leaving your dog in the car during summer _ , Harry thought while stuffing his godfather near one of the pyramids so that he could lie in the shadows. 

Sirius would be no help, but he would have never heard the end of it if he had left him in the hotel room, and this was still the better option.  _ No way he could listen to his constant side remarks of being left behind while trying to save his life. _

  
  


He saw the outline of a building against the setting sun, and Harry was sure that it was the Hotel his best friend was staying in.  _ Wings _ , that was what he could use now. Huge orange and red wings, with feathers so shiny they looked like they were on fire when they reflected the sunlight. He would be there within seconds, using his wings to glide through the light breeze, feeling the sun hit his face. 

  
  


The thought of not having to walk all the way through the heat felt like heaven to him. There was an urge deep down in him to start running and wave his hands around, and he did just that. There was no one to judge him; Sirius was already far out of sight and he might as well have a little fun to avoid becoming miserable. So, he started jogging through the sand, stumbling a little before raising his arms and clapping them like he had seen Dumbledore do in his sixth year.  _ Who knew, maybe Fawkes would appear to work as his portal. _ "A departure with style" Kingsley had said, and Harry couldn't agree more.

  
  


There was a sudden gust of wind coming out of the blue and Harry felt his weight leaving the ground. He was carried higher and higher, and when he opened his mouth to start screaming, a screech so unfamiliar and strange left his throat. It wasn't his voice, it was the scream of a Phoenix that left his lips and it took him a good second to freeze up completely. 

  
  


His hovering state stopped, and he crashed down into the ground. Another screech left his throat, this time even more panicked. The landing was clumsy, and Harry felt claws dig into a colorful feather dress that covered his entire body before he returned into his normal/original body.

  
  


Still trembling from shock, he lay in the sand, staring at the blue sky. 

  
  


_ What. was. That. _

  
  


He lifted a hand to his face, seeing 5 fingers, without any indication that they had just turned into claws attached to wings the color of fire.  _ No, not even a single feather grew out of his still too small hand _ . Why was this always happening to him? Why not somebody else for once, he wanted only one week without any new bullshit happening to him that he couldn't explain. 

  
  


A shaky breath later and he sat up looking around him. He was still at the same spot where he had clapped his hands, so at least he hadn't teleported without his knowledge. He shook the sand off his pants and cleared his throat, before clapping his hands over his head again. He had to know if he had just hallucinated being transformed into a bird.

  
  


Nothing happened.

  
  


So, either he was drugged without his knowledge and went tripping, or it was like his Parseltongue, and he had to concentrate on the animal before it worked.

  
  


He imagined the bird with his inner eye, ( _ Trelawney would be so proud _ ) and clapped his hands again. This time he felt the wind under his arms,  _ no _ , his wings, and started to rotate them wildly to not crash down again. The ground became further and further away as he turned towards the sky. 

  
  


He was flying again.

  
  


This time he needed no broom, no Buckbeak, and no motorcycle, just his own immense strength, and the open air. He tried to fall into a rhythm of gliding and pushing forwards and reached his destination with no problem. He dropped the box for Peter before his face met the ground a second time, but this time he was able to stay a little longer in his new form.  _ This was something Harry had to work on, _ but something that he would enjoy doing. 

  
  


He walked the last few meters into the lobby of the hotel, praying that he wasn't spotted before. At least the boy behind the counter didn't seem suspicious when Harry asked him where he would find the Weasleys. Since when did they give out information like that?  _ If they started doing that back during his hunt for Horcruxes it would have saved him a lot of trouble. _

  
  


That wasn't what he should focus on right now, since he had recently turned into a Phoenix just by wishing it would happen. Is that how it was going to play out now? He wished for something and just got it, like if the universe was trying to say " _ Sorry, I was harsh on you before, here take a biscuit?  _ " Or was it because he got the golden tear? 

  
  


The room numbers flew by while he hurried up the stairs, stopping in front of 306. He could almost feel Wormtail´s presence in the room. Forgoing knocking, he just stormed in. Ron lay on his bed, seemingly enjoying the last rays of sun shining through his open window, but he wasn't what Harry was here for. He spied the small cage usually containing Scabbers, but it was empty. Harry almost got a heart attack before seeing him on the covers next to his childhood friend, sleeping soundly.

  
  


He didn't hesitate before snatching him off the bed and stuffing him into the box he had brought for exactly that purpose. Ron startled out of his slumber, ready to start screaming at the twins and getting utterly confused when he saw Harry jumping out of the window, turning into a flaming bird, and disappearing the same second. He fell back into his covers having no idea what had just happened.

  
  


Harry came closer with every clap of his wings, reaching Sirius within a few seconds. Flying came so naturally to him like he had done it for his whole life, which he kind of did, considering his sports career. But now he felt completely free gliding through the air, coming to a stop 50 meters away from where the black dog had curled himself into the cool shadow.

  
  


Questioning eyes met the boy who held up a moving box, and Sirius’ frown was replaced by a deadly grin. Harry shoved the struggling box behind his back and extended his hand for Sirius to touch. Padfoot put his paw into Harry's hand, still huffing from the heat. 

  
  


Together they appeared at the edge of a dense forest. It was already dark and later than Harry thought they would show up at Remus's doorstep, but maybe that was a good thing, considering that the werewolf now had more time to think things through.  _ He just hoped that he hadn't called the Ministry.  _

  
  


Harry spied a white dot at the window sill, patiently waiting to be picked up.  _ Good, that meant that Remus had gotten his message. _ He looked down to his side, where his godfather lay on the ground looking rather miserable. It seemed like his stomach wasn't as strong as he always claimed. Maybe it was better that way, to leave him here for a second and greet Moony alone. Just in case there was an Auror waiting for him.

Harry apparated straight to the front door, ringing the bell. 

  
  


"Who's there?"

  
  


"Harry Potter."

  
  


He heard creaking floorboards and nervous shuffling before Remus answered again.

  
  


"Prove it. How could you have come here?"

  
  


"A…friend helped me out. Somebody that knows where you live. It would be a shame to get evicted because of underage magic, but I would still take my chances and use a simple Alohomora just for you. I hope you know that it isn't safe to leave your door practically unlocked." 

_ Moony had a bad habit of leaving his doors unlocked, without any protective spells or locks to prevent unwanted guests from entering. Even a first-year could open them. _

  
  


"My Patronus is a stag, just like my father’s. My Patronus is Prongs." 

  
  


It was silent for a while, and Harry got impatient. They had better things to do than to stand here and do nothing. He turned around to Sirius, now in his human form, and demanded his wand. 

  
  


With a simple gesture, the one that Remus had taught him years ago he formed a stag and sent it inside to nudge Moony to finally open the door. He also looked through the house, not seeing any magical personale. His stag wasn't as perfect as he was used to but still pretty good for using an unwilling wand. 

  
  


Remus gasped at the familiar sight, and Harry took the liberty to open the door for him with wandless magic. 

  
  


"Remus. Professor Lupin, please, we need your help. It's me, do you believe me now? I’m Harry."

  
  


"How in Merlin's name did you get here?! The only one that knew my location was Dumbledore and he would have given an earlier notice!  _ Why do you want to talk about _ \- SIRIUS !"

  
  


He gasped and threw Harry behind him with a strength he didn't see coming. 

  
  


"DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO HURT HIM BLACK!" He pointed his wand at Sirius who seemed completely taken aback from being called by his hated last name and didn't even raise the wand Harry had pushed back into his hand.

  
  


"Remus, LISTEN TO ME, please,  _ he is innocent _ ! Come on, you know him! He was like a brother to my father, there is no way he would turn to everything he had fought against ever since he learned what the Black family stood for!  _ It was Peter _ , it was him the whole time, and we can prove it now, so please, please, let us talk."

Even though tears were forming in his eyes, Remus still didn't lower his wand. "You traded with Peter, and you didn't tell me? "

  
  


Sirius nodded, still hurt about the harsh reaction of one of his best friends. Harry knew that they would work it out, but now that he saw the broken expression on his face, he wasn't as sure about it anymore.

  
  


"We thought that it was better to not let you know, in case you got caught during..., you know, and accidentally gave the secret keeper away. It was my idea to go with Peter. I thought we could trust him,  _ I thought he was our friend _ . 

  
  


Please, Remus, this wasn't about not trusting you, it was about protecting you when you were the most vulnerable. I know what I did is unforgivable, but it was Peter who sold Prongs, Lily, and Harry off to Voldemort, not me. So please help us put him into Azkaban where he belongs."

  
  


Moony let his guard down, crying and pulling Padfoot into a tight hug, trembling with his overwhelming emotions at regaining his lost brother.

  
  


Harry stood behind the two of them, giving them the time and space they needed to calm themselves down. Only the rat inside the box made noise, as Pettigrew tried to escape at every cost. He cast a murmured  _ Muffiato _ over the box, and it was silent again. It seemed like he wasn't the only one that had heard the rat's desperation because two pairs of deadly eyes stared at Harry's hands when he took his gaze off the box.

  
  


"We should really get him to the Minister of Magic now before one of you actually turns into a murderer. Remus, what happens if you try to apparate through a border made to stop that? I am not sure if what I’ am planning is going to work out or not."

  
  


"Nothing. If there is a border blocking the entrance you just couldn't apparate into it, so you don't move from your spot." He squinted his eyes a little, before asking what he was planning. 

  
  


Harry held out one hand to him and the other to Sirius as an answer, and while Padfoot just took it Remus cast a calculated look at Harry. 

  
  


"Are you trying to break into Hogwarts?" Sirius' head snapped toward Harry. He hadn't given much thought about where his godson was taking them, and if he was being honest, he didn't care as long as they would convict Peter.

  
  


"Yes, and damn you for thinking so fast. I will try, we´ll see if it works out or not. Nothing bad can happen either way, am I right?"

  
  


Moony hesitated for a second, before holding onto Harry. 

  
  


"If you succeed I will give you some of my-"

  
  


He didn't get further because as soon as he touched Harry's skin the four of them were pulled out of the small house and disappeared with a small plop.

  
  


It took Harry's whole concentration to focus on the feeling of gliding through the magic wall around Hogwarts. He remembered how he traveled from the Headmaster’s Office into the North Sea, and he was a little out of breath when they finally landed on the Astronomy Tower. 

  
  


_ He did it. _

  
  


"- chocolate."

Harry chuckled lightly at Remus’ out-of-hand expression. He looked so deeply shocked, that even Sirius came out of his standstill to start mocking him.

  
  


"I like the dark one the most; feel free to choose the brand yourself."

  
  


"How did you do that? Not even Dumbledore can apparate on school grounds!"

  
  


He forced a smile on his face while trying to come up with a cover-up story.

"You know Moony, Dumbledore can lift and change the borders however he pleases. Hogwarts biggest protection spell is lifted if you apparate with the headmaster himself in or out of the school grounds. So I just remembered how he brought me into school last year and used Sirius's capabilities to bring us all here. It was more of a show-off than anything else, but it seemed useful. 

  
  


We should head towards Dumbledore's Office and get everything sorted out. He will inform the Minister of Magic, or whoever is in charge of that right now, and then we can take a tour through the castle, what do you think?" 

  
  


There was a child-like glee in both their eyes when he mentioned the castle with all its secrets that yearned to be discovered. _ Maybe he would show them the Room of Requirement, or the Chamber of Secrets, who knew _ . That gave him a new idea though…

  
  


"Just so it’s clear, we came in through a secret tunnel; no mention of underage magic, apparating, or anything like that, okay? I can't get into even more trouble, and I don't want to get onto the Minister's bad side right away, so keep it together."

  
  


Maybe he would tell Moony of what had happened in his last years. He deserved peace, and a family to settle down with and raise his kids.  _ Please let me help you this time Remus, there is no need for you to suffer like that. _

They left the top of the tower together, all of them lost in their thoughts, coming to a stop next to the statue that hid the entrance of the person he once idolized.  _ What a fool he was, _ Harry thought to himself, remembering all the times he had followed the old man's lead without even thinking of whether what he did was right.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what five days without WiFi made me do:)
> 
> I wrote three chapters and spend most of my time correcting all of them. Still searching for a beta, but this will have to work until then.
> 
> Have a good time and leave some love behind <3


	4. Peter Pettigrews confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real mass murder gets exposed and there are a lot of feelings.

Sirius was still hidden under the Invisibility Cloak as the squad stood before the stone gargoyle. They had walked in silence, all lost in thoughts about the history they had with the castle that was dead silent. Not even ghosts floated through the corridors and Harry almost expected to get jumped by the Carrow brothers, a hoard of Death Eaters, or even worse Voldemort himself. But they were alone, walking in silence and anticipation about what was to follow.

Not even Severus Snape snooped around the corner, even though he was the reason why Padfoot had to go into hiding. They had both agreed to put Sirius under the Invisibility cloak since neither wanted to deal with Severus attacking Sirius, who hadn't mind slipping under James' old cloak one more time. All three of them were convinced that if Snape would get the chance, he would carry Sirius with his bare hands back into Azkaban, and Remus with him. 

Sirius popped his head out when they arrived in front of the ugly statue; his eyes a little puffy and red, and there were tear stains on his cheeks. It must be hard for him to sneak through Hogwarts again, but this time without James. Harry nudged him in the side and sent him an apologetic smile while carefully putting his hood back on. The walls had eyes and ears here everywhere, and they could not risk being found before they had a chance to explain themselves. So, Sirius had to stay hidden until they had entered the head office.

“Vanilla pudding”

Nothing happened as Remus spoke the last password he got told.

“He seemed to have changed the password in the last two weeks, “ Remus stated the obvious “do any of you know what the new one could be? Or should we wait until he comes out of his room and try to talk to him again?”

Harry stared at the stone eagle. Was this thing even an eagle? Anyways, what were the last passwords he remembered? “ Dragon hoard”? “Eyes of Newt”? Or something else, a food or drink, he couldn't put his finger on it. Vanilla pudding was the last one, so what if the next one was also a treat?

“Sherbert Lemon”

The stone started to turn around himself, revealing a hidden staircase that would take them straight to Dumbledore. I should have known that he would use the same password for three years straight, like if there would be no security issue with that, Harry shushed himself. 

Remus stared at him with a raised eyebrow, but Harry had no intention of letting him know when and where he got the password from. He would see his old father figure again when walked off those stairs, and after everything he had to go through he was looking forward to it. Trust me, he had said, I know what is good for you.

Of course, he would, Harry had replied, and it wasn't a lie at the time. Now, after he could see the terrible and unforgivable things Dumbledore had done for what he called the Greater Good, he cringed at all the times he had followed his lead like a lost puppy. 

Dumbledore had made him so desperate, so starved for someone who would show him what was right in this new world, that he himself could become his savior in need, a god-like creature who he had to obey. 

Those times were over, he thought bitterly, I have learned my lesson.

Dark wood and muted voices marked the entrance into the office as Harry let his knuckles meet the door three times. He was about to tell Sirius to stay hidden no matter what, but then the doors flew already open and he was met with the face of Cornelius Fudge. His expression went from neutral to surprise to utterly shocked, and Harry knew it was too late to tell his godfather off.

Both drew their wands at the same time, the Minister at where he thought was the rest of Sirius's body and Harry covered a smooch of him as he could whilst pointing his wand at the highest person in the Ministerium.

“Out of the way Potter, there is a murderer by Merlin's beard!”

“No” There was a calmness in his voice that made the man in front of him even more furious.

“Harry, my boy, this is Sirius Black, the person that let Voldemort kill your parents. Move or I will make you.” Dumbledors wand pointed straight at Padfoot's heart.

“I am not going to let you harm my godfather, even if it makes me an outcast. You won't restrain him, nor take him to Azkaban nor let his soul be sucked out. I won't allow it.”

“Harry, this is not out for discussion, move now! You should know better than to team up with the person we try to protect you from! You are underage, put that wand down or I will confiscate it!”

Sirius behind him laughed with a deep, almost barking sound knowing that his godson didn't need to use his wand to do what he needed to. As both of the great wizards turned their attention towards Sirius and made the first move to hex him, Harry let their wand fly through the air into his open hand.

“There is no reason to take my wand away, Minister. I am not here to fight against you, only to protect my family. Don't underestimate how far I will go to keep them safe, I am neither weak nor helpless.”

He twisted Dumbledors wand between his finger, the Elder wand too familiar under his touch. To disarm his opponent was something he learned in the first or second year, and if asked he would blame his desperation for the wandless magic, but it was still enough to let the three adults turn silent.

Harry knew that if he would turn around he would see Sirius proud and a little cocky smile, but he had no time for that now.

“Listen to me, I brought you the murderer of my parents, but he is not my godfather here. I won't let you take away the last bit of my family because you can't hear the truth.”

Cornelius Fudge lost his temper within a second. Being mocked by a twelve-year-old was one thing for the Minister, but being put through a speech of what was the right thing to do another. How dare he.

“You dare to lecture me about what it takes to convict a murderer?! I did things you can't imagine, Harry Potter, to make sure justice is being taken, and you accuse me, who looked his own son away in Azkaban, of not getting the real killer of the 14 people because he is your godfather? And who in your oh so high opinion is the real mass murderer, the spy in the system?!”

The Minister was fuming with anger and self-hatred of something he did so many years ago and never recovered from. Even Dumbledore looked mildly surprised about his outbreak but took no action in defending him.

“Peter Pettigrew. You know the story about how he followed Sirius into the Alley, screaming that it was Sirius Black who sold the Potters only to be blown into pieces by him, not able to draw his wand in time to defend himself. They found only a finger, that's what you said, and if I am right you even handed it over to his mother. 

Sirius got arrested, without a trial or chance of defense, solemnly that you can celebrate the fall of the Dark Lord and hunt down leftover Death Eaters. A simple Histoire spell would have proven him innocent. Professor Dumbledore, must remember offering to become the secret keeper of my parents, but they insisted on choosing Sirius here, right?”

Dumbledore nodded, unsure in which direction the conversation was heading towards.

“They wanted a friend, somebody they grew up with and had no doubt would ever turn against him, I remember it very clearly. They had chosen Sirius, who was like a brother to James. Why is this of importance?”

“Because they changed their mind. Sirius was never their secret keeper, they just wanted to make it look like it in case the mole finds out. They choose Peter, the one person nobody would expect. He was a below-average fighter, he had no status or money or anything else remarkable, so there was no way the Dark Lord would go after him when there was Sirius Black, who disowned his family to fight with the other side, forming a bond with who was destined to bring Voldemort to his knees. 

It was the perfect bluff. It would have worked out, if only Peter hadn´t decided that fighting Voldemort wasn't worth it anymore and became one of his followers. He sold his best friends off into their guaranteed death to prove his worth after he tricked all members in the Orden and made them question each other's loyalty. 

On Halloween 1981 Voldemort came to my parent's house, killed first my father and then my mother, whose sacrifice made me survive the Death curse and ended the war. You know the story, but what you don´t know is that Sirius went to visit Peter that day on his motorcycle. He found an empty house and thought the worst had happened. Should I keep going or do you want to take over Padfoot?”

Sirius cleared his throat and cough a bit before answering.

“No, please, you got it right until now, just end this okay?” Even if he didn't want to let the others know, hearing the son of his brother speak so easily about how his actions ended up making him an orphan drew nails in his heart and tears out of his eyes. 

Harry had expected him to want to finish the story himself since it was his life who was ruined by the traitor and was seriously surprised to see him decline. There was worry in his eyes if he had hurt him by recalling the story, but it was extremely important that the Minister and Dumbledore got the whole picture and believed them. So he turned around and faced who he had to convince that he wasn't lying.

They still looked cautious but curious, and Harry saw it as a sight to keep going.

“He flew to the Potters hiding spot, finding it in ruins with the corpses of my parents and Voldemort. Sirius swore to avenge their death, so he handed me over to Hagrid alongside his motorcycle who proceeded to bring me to my relatives that treated me worse than a house-elf. But he wasn't finished jet, hunting down Peter until he trapped him in an Alleyway. 

Peter had been at my parent's house as well, taking Voldemort's wand to hide his innovation in the whole conspiracy. What really happened is that when he saw that there was no escape for him, he started screaming that it was Sirius who was the traitor and blew the street with a Bombarda. He cut off his finger as his alibi, turned into his Animagus form, and used one of the exposed pipes to escape before Auros would show up. Sirius was thrown into Azkaban the same day as the news spread that the Dark Lord was defeated and I became the Boy Who Lived.”

Silence hung over them and made even breathing uncomfortable as Harry let them take in what he had said. It was the truth, and it made so much more sense than what was made official 12 years ago, and anybody that had met the Marauders would agree to that on the spot.

“How do you plan on proving your story? Where was Peter the whole time, if he was still alive and where is he now?”

“He looked for a wizard family willing to take him in so that he could look out for news on the return of his master. Peter chose the Weasleys, a pure but poor family, and stayed with them for 12 years even when Ron Weasley and I became friends. It was perfect; as soon as Voldemort returned he would take me hostage and hand me over as a welcome back gift. 

It could have worked out, but then he made a mistake.”

Harry slammed the Daily Prophet on Dumbledore's desk. Seven red-haired wizards smiled into the camera, one of them had a rat with nine toes on his shoulder. Fudge's eyes went wide. He remembers this particular print, not because of what was in it, but because he had handed it over to a prisoner that was too sane and polite after spending 12 years looking away in the most horrible place on earth. Could it be…?

“Sirius recognized Peter in the picture, and when he saw that the youngest son would soon start his third year in Hogwarts alongside Harry Potter, he knew how dangerous it could become for me and broke out.

He then contacted me, and together we made sure to catch Peter before he could escape again. We brought him in here.” 

Harry shook the box containing Wormtail with his free hand, who squeaked in panic.

“Padfoot, give me your wand, please. Or, Minister, could I use my wand to prove our innocence right here and now? It would only take one spell and a few minutes max, I promise.”

Completely star-struck that the man before him was apparently in possession of not only enough sanity to come up with a story like that but also a wand the whole time made his eyes twitch. What else had they left hidden from him and the Wizarding world, those two? He had to know, so he allowed the boy to send out his spell. Expecting something simple and useless he was left to wonder when he saw the beautiful stag leave the tip of the wand.

“Professor Snape, we have Sirius Black in Dumbledore's office and need a confession of the murderer of Lily and James. Please, come as soon as possible and bring Veritaserum to find out how he could escape. I know that you can't stand me, but please do it for their sake, I know you own it for her.”

Harry´s stag left through the wall on the fastest way to his destination, with him the message Harry had recorded. Severus would come bursting through these doors any moment now, ready for the payback he wanted so long on his childhood bully. Nothing would stop him or make him question Harry's exact words, his love for Lily and hatred for Sirius would make him blind.

There was a small grin on his face as he held the wands up towards their owners, who used a simple Expelliarmus to gain their mastership back. It would have been funnier if they had to struggle with the accuracy of their spells, but Harry had the feeling that he would need more than him and Remus to hold Severus back from killing Padfoot on the spot.

“Sirius, Remus, hold yourselves back okay? We would all carry the consequences of pissing him off since he is the most talented Potion master in this country and my teacher for the next few years. He will get cocky, he will tease and mook you, but remember that you did the same if not even worse when you were younger. I know, I know, that you were teens and stupid at the time, but now you are grown up, so behave like ones goddammit.”

Seeing his underage portage giving out to his new Professor and an apparently innocent mass murderer made Dumbledore irrationally furious. What had happened in the seven weeks after he had given them the house cup and letting a small boy go back to his Aunt and Uncle, to make him return as this bold brat that used wandless magic and spoke like he had power over them that they couldn't even see? What had made his most loyal admirer turn to different allies, ones that he had no control over? And why did he not see it coming?

“So there was indeed a reason the Sorting hat wanted you in Slytherin. How cunning of you Mr. Potter, to use my dear Severus like that to get your way.”

“He will survive it, but I might have scratched his ego a little. Hey, Padfoot, gimme back my cloak, I don't want it broken by a furious Snape later on.”

Sirius huffed at him, but there was no fear whatsoever in him about meeting his childhood rival.

“And your wand, I know what you are planning, and forget about it.”

Indication spread over Sirius's face, and Harry knew that had hit a sore spot.

“Ahhhh, come on, you can't expect me to let him jump me without a defense right? Snivy..., I mean Severus is tougher than he looks, he can take a little before going down, am I right Moony?”

His argument ended with him standing at the desk, wandless and pouting like a toddler. Whatever dignity he had left seemed to have taken a vacation, because he decided to throw himself at the chair usually reserved for the headmaster and started to spin around.

Remus, Harry, Dumbledore, and Fudge all stared at him as if he was completely mental, and Harry took it on him to restrain his godfather with a Petrificus Totalus onto the chair. They were trying to save him from being literally sucked soulless here, and he started to behave like a child. It seemed like Sirius was back in his days as a Marauder, and there was a glimmer in Mooney's and Dumbledor's eyes that let Harry know that they had realized it as well. Only Fudge was left clueless on what his man-child was doing but wrote it off as getting insane from his time in Azkaban.

Not even a whole minute of awkward silence later flew the doors open, and an out of breath Severus Snape entered the office. Harry had never seen him grin so evil, and he started to rethink his decision to involve him in this.

“So that is how we meet again, Black.”

His voice was full of hate and satisfaction as he looked down onto Sirius, who had   
nothing better to do than roll his eyes.

“Not him Snape, I meant someone else.”

There was ice spiking out of Severus' eyes and Harry swore that if he hadn't been so determined to free Sirius he would have at least flinched away. But now he just stood there, staring back into black eyes.

“Do you want to know who really sold my parents to the Dark Lord? Who killed my mother?”

Pain masked as anger flushed through Snape's face. Harry had hit a nerve, he knew he did, and he would keep pressing.

“Let's finally get this over. Professor Dumbledore, it would be the safest if you would shock him first so that he can't weasel away and then turn him back afterward.”

He hummed in agreement, and Harry put the box next to the newspaper on the desk. Sirius would have to watch from this position so that Harry didn't have to worry about his smashing the rat with his bare hands.

Then he opened the side enough to grab the backside of the rat that began to shed fur and seemed like it wanted to be anywhere but here.

“Do you realize something about this rat Minister?”

When he didn't answer took Dumbledore over.

“He is missing a toe.”

It was Snape who sent out the same spell that had made Sirius unable to move, and there was a tension in the air similar to what Harry had felt at the trimagic tournament four years ago. Excitement, fear, anger, pure panic, and something else, that would only be described as Schadenfreude. Hermione used it when she described how it felt to punch Draco across the face or see him getting hurt by Buckbbeak. It was the feeling of satisfaction in somebody else's misery, something that Harry hated on others but couldn't help to feel himself looking at Pettigrews shocked Animagi. He deserved it, and so much more, was what he thought as Dumbledore turned him back into his human form.

The years of his life as a rat had left their mark on the man before them. His hair was thin with almost no color left, and there was a big bald spot where Scrabbers fur had started to fall out. He was chubby but not heavy as if he had lost a lot of weight recently. But the worst thing was his small watery eyes which still looked so disgustingly like the ones of a rodent that not only Fudge took in a sharp breath.

Snape stared at Peter with such shock and hatred, while Moony looked like someone had just punched him in the stomach. He still had hoped that it wasn't Peter all along, but somebody else that wasn't one of his three best friends. There was no denial in his expression now when he lured forwards to throw a punch at Pettigrew. 

Harry had to use all his force to hold him back, getting painfully reminded of how Remus had done the same in the Ministerium after Sirius's death. Nobody will die here today, and I am not gonna let you lose it in front of the two men that are looking so desperately for a reason to fire you. So he held onto him while the others came back out of their freeze.

Snape was the first to fully recover, eyes darting from Peter to Sirius and Remus back and forth, and he must have concluded that the Potters had changed their Secret keeper last minute. He threw one last look at Sirius who had murder in his eyes as he starred holes into Pettigrew and walked up into the middle of the room. His steps were firm, even his coat blew a little as he stopped in front of Peter, so much disgust was written across his face as he lifted his leg and let it crash into the traitor's face.

Not even Harry had expected him to recognize the man beneath him, and less to use that much violence against him. But it seemed that he had never forgotten the faces of his bullies, especially the ones of the Marauders.

“Peter Pettigrew!”

Snape looked sick as he turned around to smash the small vial of Veritaserum onto the table and marched out the door. There was the trademark eco in his step that seemed to be too loud in the silent room.

“I don't think we had a proper conversation jet, my name is Harry Potter and I am the one you decided to sacrifice alongside my parents. My childhood was worse than you can ever imagine, but it taught me how to fight dirty. You are now going to drink this potion, or I am going to make you regret ever getting born. Understood?”

Harry's voice was more of a hiss than a shout, but it did the trick as he shook the bottle in front of Peter's frozen face. The Boy Who Lived had an evil grin on this face, shocking not only Peter but all the other adults as well. Remus had enough control over himself now to hold himself back as he gripped a nearby chair tightly. Dumbledore was taken back by what his protege was emplying, while Cornelius was wondering where the sweet innocent boy he had met not even two days ago had gone. This is someone else, something else rather. 

Only Sirius looked like he had expected Harry to take it as far as threatening Wormtail with death or torture, and he was proud and furious at the same time that he stood to what he had promised. He wanted nothing more than to turn him into the toddler chasing after a cat on the broomstick Sirius had bought him, to take all of his trauma away from him, leaving him whole and happy.

But he couldn't do that, so the best next thing was to make sure he got all he could wish for now, and to fight his enemies beside him. Nothing could replace what he had lost, to the man Padfoot once called his brother, but he would be damned if he wouldn't make sure to be there for his godson as long as he wanted him there.

If that meant to let Peter live a little longer, even if he wanted to see blood now, then he would take it without a second thought. Staring daggers into him was something different though, and there was the same shared hatred in both their eyes as Harry sniffed at the Veritaserum to determine how much they would need to draw out a confession.

“It's watered down, should hold for about an hour before losing in strength.”

Harry let a few drops of the clear potion drip into Peter's mouth. He waited for it to start working, not acknowledging the strange looks he got from all sides excluding Sirius. It seemed like the Half-blood prince had lived up to his name with this particular potion as well because Peter's face relaxed and Harry could almost see how his walls were knocked down one by one almost immediately as the serum entered his system.

Dumbledore couldn't take his eyes off Harry, being so utterly disturbed about how there could be so much pure hatred and disgust running through this boy that spoke Voldemort's name without emotion whatsoever. How could he possibly be worse than Voldemort, his master? Everything he did was in his name, Voldemort was the one holding the strings, not Peter, who still had the Dark Mark very visible under his torn clothes. The temptation to dig through his students' minds was so big he actually started to break the first wall, only to find more and more, a never-ending cycle built to keep the ones unwelcomed out. How was this possible?

Harry felt how somebody tried to penetrate his head, and now he was glad that he hadn't taken his guard down even in his new timeline. If this was the first time Dumbledore had tried? How many times had he read his thoughts, messed with how he saw the world only to never say a word about it? He didn't know, but he was sure that if he really wanted he could get in again since his defense now was to throw people off that tried to sneak in without his knowing, and not to stop Oclumentic masters like Snape, Dumbledore, or Voldemort from messing with him a long time.

He was pretty sure why his headmaster was so interested in his thoughts. He had made his, well, disposition towards Peter Pettigrew pretty clear, something he didn't even do talking about Voldemort. But for Harry were the things the man in front of him had done so much worse, even more, cruel and without any reasoning or excuse. All Peter wanted was to follow, first his father, then Voldemort, and now the Weasleys. 

He had killed a teenage boy, just because he saw no reason against it. He had sold off his best friends that trusted them with their life and the one of their newborn baby, only to rise in his status as a follower of Voldemorts. He was weak, he was shabby, he had nothing that made him special or useful, and he still had the audacity to wreak havoc and pain in Harry's life to an extent Dumbledore couldn't imagine. Seeing his answer to the first questions of Fudge and Remus only satisfied a small part of his need for revenge, but it was enough to stop the urge to hex the living shit out of him.

The room fell silent as Pettigrew admitted to being the secret keeper of Lily and James, and to telling Voldemort so as his free decision, only addressing him as Dark Master. Remus looked ready to puke, Sirius was still well restrained, Dumbledore had summoned a Quick-Quotes Quill and let it write down what happened word by word, while Fudge kept digging deeper. He came to the point where there was only one question left, and it was Moony who took it on him to ask it.

“Why. Why did you let you-know-who knowing where Lily and James were hiding, and why did you blame Sirius?”

They got their answer in a monotone voice, emotionless and absolute honesty.

“They were of no use for me anymore. There and Harry's death meant that the prophecy would be stopped, and I would be the one who would lead my Dark Master to a region over eternity. Black was a good blame, even if I was heading towards Remus Lupin, but people would still believe that the Black he was would trait his family again as he traited it as a teenager, so he worked just fine. I could go into hiding without being chased until the Dark Master would return and could save me from the ones that swore revenge. “

It was devastating to hear what all of them had imagined; there was no regret or sorry in him, not even after spending two years with the boy he had made an orphan, after hearing what had happened to him or to Sirius, the two whose life he had destroyed to no imagen.

Not even the Full Body-Bind curse his promise towards Harry could stop Sirius from going mad. He saw red, and he wanted more spilled over the floor right now. Why not do the thing he was already convicted for, right now and then, in front of the Minister, ready to take him to Azkaban? Maybe he would even meet Bellatrix this time and give her payback for killing him when Harry had needed him so badly.

His chair started to tip from one side to another, almost falling over as he proceeded to give it all he got and kill the man that took James from him. Even Remus looked like he was this close to throwing his hand around Peter though and not letting go until there was no light left in his eyes and his skin grew cold. If Harry hadn't known better then he would have said that he was close to transforming into a werewolf in bright daylight, and some part of him wanted to see what he would do if all his restraints fell at once.

In the end, it was Fudge who rose from his armchair, heading towards where the Quick- Quote- Quill hung suspended in the air, dictating it to take notes on the following three interviews. He started with Dumbledore, asking him what parts of this story he had known and since when. It was surprising to hear all-knowing Dumbledore admitting that he was in fact clueless about what had happened, and Harry hoped for him that he was not lying.

There was a growing tension when it was Remus' turn, as he described that he had noticed how Peter had gotten more distant in the last year of the war but had thought it was because Peter thought he was a traitor. He talked about how James and Sirius had taken him into their friend group even before him in his first year, and how he had always looked up to the three of them for being so popular.

“He was neither bright, nor brave or anything else really, but we still loved him as a brother. To hear him admit to only think of us only as a tool for his success is the worst thing I have ever heard. No punishment would ever make up for what he has done, not even being kissed by a dementor would be enough.”

Harry prepared himself for his questioning, remembering what he knew in third grade and leaving out what he possibly could not know. He was the one who was finished the fastest, since there should have been not too much to recall, and even Fudge took more time to elaborate on what had happened on the night of the 31st of December 1981. He admitted to speeding up the trial, being so sure he had the right one, and not wanting to give him even one more hour outside of Azkaban.

Sirius was being left out, still almost foaming with uncontained range and not able to form even one cohesive word other than “Traitor” and “I will kill you”. They had more than enough to look Peter away for a lifetime and free Sirius from his false convictions, and there was only one last thing Harry had to do before he could finally leave.

He turned towards Dumbledore, stating that he had had a vision before they came here, and asking if he could somehow show it to the Minister. Harry did his best to not even hint towards the Pensieve, and tried to at least sound like he was a little scared of what he had to share. 

Dumbledore went his way, explaining that he could separate memory or, in his case a vision to show others using a Pensieve, opening up his and leaving it out for Fudge and Harry to use. Harry nodded in agreement, failing on purpose to take the threat of his thoughts out the first time, before extracting it completely and letting it fall into the shimmering substance.

Both of them headed into Harry's memory, three pairs of burning eyes in their back as they relived what Harry had chosen for them to see. It was the scene at the graveyard, the night of the Final Trimagic Tournament, and the night Voldemort returned into a human form.

They watched how Peter killed the spare one, how he recited the ritual with bones of Tom Riddle's father, Harry's blood, and his whole hand, forming something that was neither human nor something else. He cut it off after Peter bowed down, handing cloak and wand to his master. Showing him who were somewhat loyal Death Eaters could change the future to an extent Harry could not foresee, so he rather left that part out.

“I don´t know if this is real or if it is going to happen, but if it does, it would mean that he would return right?”

Harry wasn't sure if it was too late to play the I-am-just-a-kid card, but even if he didn't take his acting skill Fudge was still convinced to have witnessed a vision of something so horrible he had to sink into his chair.

“Peter Pettigrew is being put into Azkaban for the remaining of his lifetime, without a chance of pardon or a sharded cell. He will be kept under the highest security matter, restrained, and stripped of his Animagus form. His time of kiss will be determined with the whole Wizengamot attending. Harry, what you saw will never happen, not now and not in the future. 

Thank you for being brave enough to share what you had seen, and catching Peter before he could even attempt to do such a thing. I will personally make sure that you and Mister Black will be credited for the success of finally doing justice. There is no way for me to apologize enough, but I can pardon Mister Black in this instant, and call in an emergency meeting of the gamot in two hours. Peter Pettigrew will be escorted into Azkaban as soon as the specialized Aurors will arrive, I already notified them that we have a mass murderer and that it is not Black, in case there should be an incident.

Now, Professor Dumbledore, I hope you can excuse me, our conversation from earlier must wait. Professor Lupin, I am sorry for what had happened, and I hope that you can find your peace now. Mister Black, my deepest apologies, and I am ashamed for what I have taken of your life. I stand in your depth, so does the whole Wizarding World, and you will be refunded with what is rightfully yours. 

Professor Dumbledore, you will be attending the meeting, and for the others, I think it's best if they would not be present, I am not sure if we can provide enough protection on such short notice from both attending wizards and the press. There will be an article, if not even a whole newspaper on what had happened, and I will put the confession as well as your statements and the conviction into it. 

If you excuse me now, I will have to prepare Azkaban for Peter's arrival.”

The Minister bowed before them and left into the nearby room, where they heard him talking in a muffled voice. Both Remus and Harry let out a deep breath, trying to comprehend what it meant to the three of them. He made it, was Harry primality thought, Sirius is free and Peter as good as dead. 

Remus was so disgusted with Pettigrew he couldn't even look at him as he walked over to Sirius, pulling him into a rib-crushing hug as he started to sob. Harry heard Sirius sniffle as well, and he lifted the ban lying over him with a flick of his wand. They embraced into a hug so intimate that Harry had only seen between the Weasley twins when they mourned over a loved one together. What they shared was something Harry hoped to achieve with Ron, Hermione, and Sirius as well this time, a bond that they shared going deeper than friendship or brotherhood.

Dumbledore's stares were unimportant as went to hug his family as well, he could always deal with him later. But right now he had to help Moony and Padfoot with a truth he had accepted long ago; that if it weren't for Peter and his choice to follow Voldemort, his parents would still be alive. So he cried with them, mourning after a life he never got to live, and the two people who died so early, not getting a chance to see their child grow up to the hero he was.

They almost didn't realize when Peter was being taken away, still holding onto each other. Remus was the first one to let go, followed by Harry, who carefully put his hand onto Sirius' shoulder to give him something to hold onto. 

“I have to give Snape a visit, but I think it would be best if you two go home and take some time to let today sink in. I will visit you guys, or do you have other plans?”

“We will travel to Egypt and visit the Weasleys, I am sure that you can come as well if you like. But if not then we will see each other in Hogwarts again, Professor.”

There was a small grin on Moonys face, and Sirius sniffed one last time before charming in.

“I still can't believe you switched sides, Moony. How can you ever even consider becoming a teacher?! You were the worst of us three, by far! Try to at least not become a second Binns or, Merlin saves us all, Slughorn.”

Remus showed his affection by kicking Sirius in the side and looking down onto him. He was taller even when both stood next to each other, but now that Remus stood and Sirius sat the height difference was enormous.

“Be careful that I don't show you how bad of a person I can be, you goddamn dog, and stop whining like the baby you are. ´Cause I will not become as boring as you, and I will make damn sure to let everybody who thinks you were cool in Hogwarts know what Drama Queen you really are, you can be sure of that one. Now leave and bother someone else, before I find some old pictures of you with long hair after the Quidditch cup ´73.”

There was as much love as mischief in Mooney's eyes, and Harry was sure that he would indeed leak pictures of his friend, just to take his petty revenge.

“No, you swore by your favorite sweater that you destroyed those pictures, burned them under the moonlight to never be seen again… 

Harry, we have to leave now, or this son of a Bowtruckle will destroy my perfect image and will make me look like an idiot. Come on, there is nothing to roll your eyes about, this is my pride we are talking about! Nobody can ever know what happened, and no, not even you! Let's go!!”

Harry was dragged out the door like a misbehaving child, but he still saw his Defense against the Dark Arts teacher laugh so freely it took a weight off his chest. Remus will be fine, he has his brother back, and with him the chance to let go of what had happened. He grinned even while being manhandled and swore by all he had to get his fingers onto those pictures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter sucks major dick, and so do Remus and Sirius cause they *gay* 
> 
> Changed it to Wolfstar, cause why would Sirius and Severus ever get together? They have no chemistry whatsoever, so If you were here for that tag I am sorry. Tbh, this chapter was better with my Google Docs comments on the side, but this will work.
> 
> Again, leave love, peace out. (*-*)


	5. Time-Travel Times 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Sirius visit their past in order to trow their money like bread in the park.

<p> They Floo-Powder from the nearest fireplace into the Leaky Cauldron, still overwhelmed with feelings about what had happened. Not even 12 hours ago Harry was alone, and now he already had his godfather back and Peter behind bars. <em>If he kept going at this speed then he would finish Voldemort before he grew his first pubic hair.</em>

“Let´s celebrate with some drinks and just do nothing for the rest of the day, kay? I will get some Firewhisky and Berry Ocky Rot from Tom, and hey, <em> _don't even try to talk me out of this now Sirius_ </em>, I am mentally over seventeen and I know for a fact that you participated in underage drinking yourself, so get that bitchy look on your face. I know how much I can handle, so stoop pampering over me.” 

Harry did in fact not know how much he could handle. He ended up ordering a bottle of _Ogden's Old Firewhisky_ , a few bottles of _Butterbeer_ , and something he saw Fleur drink at her wedding, _Berry Ock Rot_ in his disguise. Both of them ended up completely drunk, still thinking they could handle as much as they did when they got drunk the last time. Sirius became a joyful mess, laughing about everything that Harry said, while Harry kept on talking about random stuff that floated through his dizzy brain. 

“You know, when I was in third grade, like, real third grade, my best friends,” he had to pause to let out a long burp, “oh, sorry, didn't mean to. Stop laughing now, I wanna tell a story. So, the third year, there is some _crazy_ shit going on, there Dementors everywhere, people still thought I was the heir of Slytherin, you were on the loose, and my friends and I, we wanted to save that Higgoprip from Hagrid. Did you know that Hagrid went to Azkaban as well? I don't even know when that was, maybe the second year, or was it third? 

Anyway, we come too late, thinking that Buckbeack is dead, _the world is over or something like that_ , and then we meet Malfoy. And that boy was stupid enough to tease ´Mione, who straight-up sucker-punched him in the face. Full fist almost broke his nose I think. _God,_ I wish I could do it again this year, you know, he was so full of shit at this time, he really deserves it. Merlin Padfoot, you laugh like you are gonna die on me, and stop spilling the Whisky, I bought that! Oh whups now I spilled mine as well. Stop that, you-" 

Harry tried to come up with an insult but was so dizzy he fell onto the bed, the Butterbeer bottle safe in his outstretched hand. He emptied it and went on with his story as nothing had happened, not that Sirius would care if he just started a new one. 

"The best thing was that we actually could look at that moment again, ´cause, you know, _we Time-Traveled back_ , saving the innocent, blah blah blah… You know what I never got? Dumbledore had an office full of super cool and useful stuff, and all he left me in his will was a tool to clip out lights, a sword that he didn't own, and a Snitch that only opened when I decided to commit suicide. Like, he had _TimeTurners_ , he had a _Pensieve_ , he had the _Elder wand_ and every potion in the book, even _Felix Felicitas_! And then he chooses a teenager, with no adult supervision btw, to save the world by finishing a task that he had no idea of. 

_Who does that?_ And why do people still glorify him, he was a stupid old man, too set in his way to see what was happening around him and too scared to let others take over. He even let me fight against Basiliscs, Dragons, Dementors, Death Eaters, and Voldemort like five times, and that all before I was what, 15?! He let me fight in the Trimagic Tournament, where people much older, much more advanced _had literally died_ , as a fourteen-year-old! I didn't even know how to duel properly, because he hired the worst teachers imaginable to show us the most important skill as being a wizard! Even I did better, and I had learned from them!” 

Sirius was so black-out drunk that he just started laughing again, and Harry left him giggling to himself while emptying the bottles around him. This was a prime opportunity to just let go of all the anger, frustration, and pain that had built up while he was on the run, and nobody would stop him from numbing his feelings in the process. Being twelve, _no,_ thirteen, sucked, he decided while walking to the bathroom, swinging from one side to the other. _Can't even get drunk anymore._

They woke up by bright sunlight in the morning, with no idea of how they went to bed the night before. Having a headache so bad he threw up in the bathroom from it, he ordered two Stomach Settling Potions from one of the house-elves out on the corridor. Sirius was still lying on the carpet, curled up in his Animagus form, not alleging to Harry who told him to take a shower and get ready. “Come on now Padfoot, get your lazy ass up, we have things to do.”

Not even kicking him in the side seemed to work, even though it had done wonders when Moony did it. Huh, maybe he had to raise his fear factor in his godfather. There was nothing better than a healthy portion of respect in his companion, and Harry would make damn sure that Sirius knew who he was up to. But now he fixes his stomach first, downing one of the small potions meant to get rid of his hangover. _2.27 PM_ it read on the strange clock on the wall. Huh. _They had lost almost all of the day, and they wanted to go shopping before heading to Egypt._ They needed more time, that was sure. 

“Sirius, stand up now you lazy dog, and get ready, we have to make a Time-Travel!” 

Sirius was still grumbling, probably about the dog remark, but finally getting up and into the bathroom, but not without smashing the door behind him. His wincing at the loud sound was enough satisfaction for Harry, and he started to pack the bag for his trip. _TimerTurner, money, pouches, invisibility cloak_ , just to make sure they could disappear if something happens, and last but not least he opened up the window for Hedwig to come inside. She was more than happy when Harry started to pet her, stroking through the beautiful white feather coat and feeding her some of the treats he had bought yesterday. 

_Yesterday_ … It seemed like it was ages ago when he had stood in Hogwarts, losing his friends, being ready to die himself to stop the killing from continuing. It was Sirius again who broke him out of his thoughts, by returning his favor in kicking him in the legs.

“Au! Damn you Padfoot, what was that for?!” His pet needed some training indeed, _and as soon as possible_.

“You ignored me again! This is the second time in two days, and it starts to hurt my feelings okay! You have to listen to me, not the other way around, I am the grown-up here!” Harry huffed at that and turned around, leaving a butt-hurt Sirius behind. _Grown-up_ , of course you are Sirius, _a grown-up drama queen._

“Get ready now, I prepared everything for us to go back to yesterday and do some shopping while we still can. The potion there is for you, but since you are so _grown up_ I am sure you don't need something against a little headache, am I right?” 

He played dirty, he knew that, but it was still funny to see Sirius squint his eyes and pout.

“Let´s go, we have to be back before 10 O'clock, and there is no time to waste!” Harry laid the silver necklace from the Time-Tuner around both of them, and the last thing he saw while putting it onto two o'clock yesterday was Sirius snatching the potion off the nightstand and themselves opening the doors. _It will work out._

They landed at the same spot about twelve hours earlier, and Harry just thought of how an hour earlier they could still have been at the room planning out their trip to catch Peter. _But then they would have already known that that would happen, so it could never happen in the first place._ TimeTravel was still confusing, especially since he had done a TimeTravel in a TimeTravel. _What if they would have ended up in his old TimeLine?_ That would be funny, but most likely a complete mess. Would he replace his old self, or would there be two Harrys? His head started to hurt again, filled with scenarios that would never happen, and to stop thinking he grabbed Sirius, told him to turn unto the dog he was, and dragged him out onto Diagon Alley.

Not listening to his literal whining he entered the next hairdresser, looking for something to clean up Sirius's face. How _should they convince the public that he was innocent all along if he looked like, well, himself right_ _now_? What he needed was a makeover, and Harry would give him his all to make him look like he was 21 again. So, he picked up extra gloss shampoo, it was his grandparents brand, a brush that untangled your hair for you, scissors enchanted to give you the cut that fits you best, a blow dryer with 5 settings, and last but not least a razor to get rid of whatever jungle was growing on his godfathers face. 

He got a lot of strange looks for buying hair products when all hope was already lost with the mess on his head, but he just stared the bystanders dead in the eyes until they left him alone, paid, and went on his way. Sirius waited for him, sticking his tongue out when he saw Harry return and had the audacity to jump up to him and lick over his face. 

The smug grin made Harry almost lose his cool and call him out on his bullshit, but since that would endanger him being spotted, he did the next best thing he could come up with. 

This time it was Harry who wore the blending grin on his face, and a black leash in his hand. Sirius had brought it up to him himself, _but that didn't mean he took it in well_ when Harry came out of the Magical Menagerie with a collar and a leash. He had whined, scratched, and even tried to bite Harry, _of course not actually hurting him,_ only nibbled on his hand a little. Harry had still managed to put the collar on, still laughing about how betrayed Padfoot looked at him. 

They bought a few things like more sweets and some magazines about Quidditch together, before disappearing into the small Alleyway Harry had changed into his alter ego yesterday. Round number two, he thought while transforming into Arcturus. Sirius checked once more if they were still alone before turning into himself, immediately taking off the black collar and throwing it as far as he could before attacking Harry with a chokehold. _Sad_ , it had even written god boy on a paw print, the perfect fit for him. 

“`Come on, it was funny, okay, let go of me now, we have to make you look a little different. Do you want to do it or should I take over?”

“As if I would trust you with my good looks. You will make me look like an old man, I know what you are trying to do here Harry!” 

To Harry's amusement, he turned into an only slightly older version of Harry's Arcturus, leaving his height and weight the same, but coloring his hair and slightly darker shade of red than Harry had it, letting it shrink into a mohawk. _Why_ , Sirius, _why_. At least his eyes looked somewhat normal, a greenish-grey color, and it took all Harry his might not to ask what in Merlin's name he thought he was doing. 

“Oh, look at that, I can still do it!” His voice sounded deeper, as if the bass line was badly turned up in one of those muggle recorders, and he could hear immediately that it was artificial. 

“Just like I used to look back in Hogwarts!” 

Harry raised an eyebrow, not believing his godfather had so little respect for himself to actually walk around like that. “Not like that of course, _stop that stupid look Harry_ , we all had disguises we would use on weekends and holidays to have a little fun. And this here is _Jackson_ , a muggle blood punk that is almost as cool as I am!” _Harry had to get the pictures Remus had talked about,_ and he would have to take one of him in his hideous disguise. 

“Sirius, you turned into Animagi in your fourth year, something grown-ups still have huge problems with, and _this was the best disguise you could come up with?!_ I took one look at you and could make out you were faking it! Come here and let me clean up this mess before they accidentally hex you because they think the garbage cans started walking!”

No bickering could get Sirius out of Harry forming his hair into a dut at the back of his head, similar to what Harry wore, and grooming his face into a clean shave. He even changed the Hogwarts robes he still wore into a black hoodie with sweatpants, while assuring him that yes, _he still looked punk and muggle._ It was only after he had stared at his reflection in a backside window for more than five minutes that they could go on their way to Madam Malkins. 

“What´s your name by the way, and how do we know each other? Have you already thought about that?” Sirius walked a few meters in front of him, a small jump in his steps while he walked backward, hitting a few wizards in his way with his brought shoulders. His voice was now way more mellow and authentic, and not whatever it was supposed to be before, and there was a questioning look spread across his face. 

_Shit_ , he had completely forgotten to tell him his new name. “I am Arcturus, and we are distant cousins. You have a muggle mother and went to Hufflepuff. You are unemployed and finding yourself while traveling through England. Try not to be you while we shop, okay?” 

Harry didn't really mean it, secretly enjoying the way Sirius always made him laugh with his antics. He would never tell him that though, his ego would go through the roof and never come back down. So he rather laughed and punched him in the arm, leaving his target whining. 

Sirius knew as well that Harry enjoyed his company, and that's why he let Harry push him around and only whine a little now and then. Didn't mean he wouldn't push back though. They bickered like siblings until they stood in front of Madam Malkins and Harry discreetly checked his disguise, gesturing to Sirius to do the same, before they entered the store together. 

“One moment please, I will be with you in a second. New Hogwarts robes are on the left, the set for first years are straight ahead if that is what you are looking for.” 

Madam Malkins shouted from the back room, messing out another customer. Sirius went through the rags of cloaks for in- and outside, suits and ball gowns, before stopping at the section for three-piece suits. _Oh, okay._

“Har-hmh, had something in my thought, Arcturus, _look at those beauties_! Definitely gonna get one of those, or maybe two or three. Hey, look, they even have ties to go with it!” 

He held up the most ridiculous ties Harry had ever seen, counting in the one Hagrid wore to his date and the one he had to wear going in front of the Wizgarmot. Nothing came even close to those things, bright and with the strangest motives that only Mr. Weasley and apparently Sirius would ever enjoy. There was even one with dog prints, _how cute_. They looked like someone without a hint of muggle fashion had gone to a retail store and bought the whole box of 50pc ties and bows, only to dump them out into the next corner. 

_Would it be worth it to see Sirius actually wear those things in public, even though he would have to look at them as well?_ Merlin yes it would, so Harry gave him a thumbs up and turned around to hide his smirk. Sirius didn't get subspecies, going on on what fabric he liked, what pattern would go well with which occasion, and why suits would always be superior to cloaks. 

“Really, they should make it an option in Hogwarts to wear three pieces, they look just so much hotter than grey jumpers and black cloaks. Oh, Madam Malkins, already finished with the last customer?”

Harry lazily gazed up from his lying position, watching Sirius discuss what he wanted with the middle-aged women. Not important enough to give up the couch, Harry decided, closing his eyes as the chattering got more and more distant until he almost couldn't make it out. 

“Arcturus, hey, ARCTURUS, wake up, I need your purse.” Harry turned around, not caring about the person in front of him. Who were they calling anyway? He had to finish brewing this potion, just one moment, he was almost done… 

“By Merlin's Beard, Harry, wake up now, this is not funny you gnarl. _Wakey wakey_ now, I need to pay for my suits!” The annoying voice brought Harry out of his slumber, unable to recall where he was. Suits? Hah? And who was Arcturus? Almost jumping up, Harry hit Sirius, who was hanging with his nose in his face between his eyes. _Oh yeah_ , they went shopping, Sirius took too long and it seemed like Harry had taken a nap while waiting. What was he dreaming of again? 

“Auuu, damn you, Harry, was that really necessary?” He only hummed absently in agreement, pulling out his purse, throwing it Sirius in the face, while thinking about the dream Padfoot had ended so abruptly; _it was about potions, wasn´t it?_ But why would he dream about that? Did he miss an assignment or something? So deep in thought that he had to be dragged up by Sirius, who was now wearing fitted black pants, a black vest with silver accents, a dark grey striped shirt, and a coat that was so extravagant and expensive Harry thought he had spent all of his allowances in one go. 

_It_ was red, and long, almost all the way to the ground, with black leather applications over his chest and arms. He looked like he had jumped out of a gay fantasy novel where he had played the vampire lover, and his whole outfit bit terrible with his red hair. Oh my, why, _why?_

_At least he wasn't wearing one of those ridiculous ties,_ but Harry was sure they were hidden deep down in one of the three big bags that stood beside the counter. His godfather had just emptied one whole bag of Galleons and handed most of them over to the slightly concerned Madam Malkins, who took them not without checking if they were real. Harry saw the ended transaction as a sign to finally leave the store and check his looks in the store window. His eyes were still blurry from waking up, and he almost couldn't make out if he was still in disguise or not. He had to get his eyes fixed, _this would only get worse._

So Harry came up with a plan while waiting for Padfoot, who tried to flirt with one of the assistants and even seemed to get somewhere before he got asked to leave the store _now._ He would have to get rid of Padfoot for long enough to follow his plans because there was no way his godfather would let him go on with his plans without throwing a tantrum. But how… 

“Harr- ahm Arcturus, how do I look? Amazing, am I right? She even found a leather jacket like I used to own in the back, the same model and color isn't that great! Said something about storage space and just gave it to me, without making me pay the 30 Gallons like last time. I know, I know, expensive right? But it's made out of real dragon leather, _and Merlin it is cool_ , but I think I liked it better a little worn off…” 

He held up a heavy leather jacket, with a low neck, zipper up the front, and more pockets than Harry could count. _So that's why he got it for free._

Harry could smell the dragon leather; something between a hot fire, smoke, and blood, but it went well with the cinnamon and fire whisky Sirius naturally radiated. Dragonskin was due to its nature hard to come by and really expensive, but this particular jacket must have been on the rack for over 20 years now, and Harry was sure that Sirius was the only one that had bought it as a teenager, and now here he was again, making the same mistake over. 

“Gotta go to Gringotts again, I need to pay you back and get some muggle money, cause it seems like the Wizarding World still hasn't heard of the blessing that _Dr. Martens_ and _Rock and Roll_ are, so Muggle London it is. Let's go!” 

Did he want more clothes? What was he, a poser that could keep everything he put his grabby hands on? How was he planning on wearing all of that? He had already bought more clothing items than Harry had possessed in his whole life, aside from the Hogwarts uniform. But if he would leave to get whatever he wanted from London Harry could use the time to visit Knockturn Alley on his own. 

“So Gringotts, and then you can visit London and I'm gonna go to Knockturn okay?” 

“You don't want to come with me? I could show you where Moony and I used to go too, or even look for a present for you-” Harry could almost see how Padfoot got an idea, _one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse._

“You know what, that's okay, you do your Dark Arts stuff, and I will catch up on what I missed from the _Creevey Crisis, The Hungarian Horntails_ , and _Muggle Snuggle_. Don´t worry, I will tell you all about them when I come back so that you don't miss out on the best music of the century. We meet at Romelda´s in two hours, okay?” 

Padfoot almost screamed the last sentence, already on the way to empty his vault and spend it on Merlin-knows-what. Gringotts wouldn't deny him access to it, and his godfather looked so excited that Harry just stared at him disappearing in the crowd, happy that he was it as well. 

_That was easier than he thought_. Harry had expected his godfather to not let him go, clinging like the puppy he was, but it seemed that his desire to surprise his godson with expensive gifts was stronger than his urge to spend every minute with him. If he would go with the Firebolt again? Probably, and then just to get a chance to fly it himself. He huffed and turned around, making his way to Knockturn Alley and into the shop opposite of _Borgin and Burkes, Moribunds._

 _Moribunds_ was a small shop with a surprising amount of sunlight coming in through dusty windows. The interior was mostly white and looked so out of place in the shabby place Knockturn Alley was, almost like it was accidentally placed there. Even the shop owner looked out of place, too young, too genuine, too happy. 

“Ah, are you here to get a pair of glasses, or rather a permanent fix young sir?” _Definitely too happy_ , but as long as he didn't hand him in he could live with it, thought Harry while nodding. 

“Permanently please, glasses didn't work out for me. My eyesight is pretty bad though, and I am not sure if it is going to work.” 

“Don´t worry about that, as long as you aren't blind I can fix it. Would you please follow me into the back room? Every spell has to be lifted, and in case that you are a metamorphmagus please return to your natural form. I will prep everything and then talk you through the procedure before we start. It's not gonna take longer than a few minutes, and it's painless and without any major risks as long as you follow the procedures afterward. Daily eye drops, no changing of eye color or form, no injections or tinctures to the exposed eyeball and everything should be healed in about a week. Now, this way please.” 

Harry hesitated. _Should he risk it?_ He was still underage, and there had to be some downsides if the shop was on this side of the street… 

“Mr. Moribund, why not open a shop in Diagon Alley if the procedure is so harmless? I am sure you would get a lot more customers there.” The owner hesitated a second, taken back by the more inconvenient question. 

“Well, a lot of Wizards are afraid to get their eyes done since it involves magic that could be categorized as dark. It is grey if you can say that, a white spell that was modified so much that it can't be viewed as “pure” anymore. Only the ones who researched the topic and don't see a way around it come here, and I would guess that you don't judge my customers for their decision.”

“No, of course not. I have one last question if that would be okay.” Mr. Moribund nodded while sitting down on one of the white waiting chairs. Really everything here was white as if he wanted to make it as “pure”- looking as he could. 

“How do you stand to Voldemort?” 

Harry could see the fear that ran through the man in front of him, and there was an expression of hurt he had seen so often when he talked with friends that had lost their loved ones way too soon. Oh, _I see._

“I lost both my parents during the war. My mother was a muggle, my father a wizard who fought for what was right. I wanted to protect them, but they didn't want me to drop out, and when I finally got a chance to fight with them they got lured into a trap and were killed. Why is this of importance? Me opening a shop here doesn't mean that I support what has happened during the times of war, and I am not going to excuse my business because its location has a dark history.” 

He got up, now way less friendly and more closed, and Harry felt safe enough to take his disgust off, revealing his famous scar and honey-colored skin. 

“Please excuse me, but I had to make sure not to run into someone who had a dark past with my old enemy. Following a career in the Dark Arts is nothing that you have to excuse yourself, don´t get me wrong, my questions were more for self-preservation than predigest. Can we get started then?” 

Mr. Moribunnd fell back into his chair, taking in who stood in front of him, asking for a service that most in his position would reject and him as well. “I guess I can go without parental permission in this case Mr. Potter. Can I assume that you are well informed by now, right?” 

Harry smiled softly. Yes, _if he would insist on parental permission he would have to whip out his Ouija board to even get a chance for approval._ His father would understand, he had bad eyes himself, right? 

“So, if every spell is lifted, please lay down. There might be a slight stinging, nothing too bad, but let your eyes water a little help most patients. Here, put this under your head.” 

He laid still, eyes closed as instructed, letting the spell do his magic. There was a slight stinging in his right eye, the one that was worse than the other and he felt no shame letting tears run down his cheeks. Holding them in helped nobody, and in this case, they quite literally reduced the pain he was feeling. There was silence between them as Harry cried through closed eyelids, and he decided that he would break it. 

“How did you get in touch with the Dark Arts? They must have been looked down on during the war even more than they are now.” 

A little surprised that the great Harry Potter took interest in his life he answered since he was pretty sure that his questions were sincere and he actually showed interest in the matter. 

“Well, a friend of mine showed interest in the Dark Arts early on in his years in Hogwarts, he was a Slytherin a little older than me, about a year or so. He showed me what it meant to master them before we grew apart due to personal reasons. The interest he had sparked stayed with me though, and years after the war ended and everything had cooled down I visited some of the stores he had mentioned with books to help me master them. I would like to know what had happened to him, but I am afraid he went onto the wrong side.” 

“A Slytherin yourself? Or maybe a Ravenclaw?” 

“No, Hufflepuff actually. Wasn't easy to make friends between houses when you were constantly viewed as weaker or less than the others, but my fellow Hufflepuffs were amazing friends, almost family. It always feels like home when you enter the common room, and to this day I still miss having the kitchen next door.”

His laugh was more like a giggle, remembering the countless nights of sneaking over to the house elves to play snap cards or wizard checkers. Harry knew what he meant; a lot of Hufflepuffs felt like the other houses had their noses up when talking about them, and Harry remembered whispers of _why a Hufflepuff had to be their Hogwarts Champion,_ of course, followed by _why Harry Potter had to steal his show._ The whole system of pushing students into boxes too small to let them develop bothered Harry more and more, especially the forced rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor. 

“Do you remember his name? I think I might know who you are talking about.” 

“I think it was Sevrus, no, Severus, but I think I never knew his last name. How would you know him?” 

“He is my Potions Professor. Severus Snape, Slytherin who got into the Dark Arts early on and chose the wrong side. Sounded familiar when you described him.” 

Another wave of stinging went through his eyes, forcing more tears out of them. _So much to completely painless_. This was more than unpleasant, and Merlin knew he had gone through worse. He would tell him as soon as this was finished.

“Oh my, he didn't seem to enjoy the presence of kids around him, even as a kid himself. I can only think of one girl he liked, the rest were either a rival or just unwelcomed in his books. Are you sure we are talking about the same person?” 

_Yes,_ Harry was sure they were talking about the same person, especially after he had described his dislike for children. He shouldn´t be a Professor, not when he treated his students like he does right now. _Having a teacher as the Bogart of a student is more than a red flag, but nothing had happened and Neville had gone into even more trouble. Not this time, not when he knew how to press Snaps buttons._

The pain ended the second Harry wanted to answer, and instead of explaining that yes, he was positive, they meant the same person he let out a deep breath, breathing through the stinging pain in his eyes. 

“Did it hurt that bad? It only gets so painful when somebody is almost blind and or gets the wrong treatment. Should I notify a healer from St Mungo's to look after you, Mr. Potter? I don't want to risk permanent damage or even blindness, something can always go wrong.” 

Harry answered with still closed eyes, the pains getting better and better the longer he just let them adjust. “No, but could you check if my glasses were even the right strength for my eyes? I don't remember when I went for a checkup the last time.” 

_He didn't remember ever going to a check-up_ , but that was nothing he had to know. The Dursleys had never cared about his blindness, or who he wasn't able to read for most of his childhood because his vision was so blurry. They had just looked him up with his books and poems until he could rehearse them, not letting him out for food or the bathroom until he stopped crying, leaving him behind and by chance remembered he was there. 

“Well, I am not too familiar with muggle optician, but this seems like it was made for someone with myopia, but you seem to have a severe case of hyperopia. So, basically, you can see things far away but not up close, and those were made for people who could see things up close but not far away. Wearing those for a few years more your eyes would have gotten progressively worse and worse, possibly even gone blind. That's why the treatment was so painful, it had to go way deeper than usual and correct more defects than I expected. I would have given you a potion to ease the pain, would you like one now?” 

Harry heard fabric move, and a presence in front of him. Mr. Moribund must be kneeling before him, worried about his well-being. He opened his eyes, ready to tell him that there was no medical personnel needed, when he got completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things he could see. 

There was dust in the air and sun rays shining through the windows, he saw them so clearly he couldn't finish the sentence he was about to start. Everything was so clear, so smooth, and detailed it was overwhelming. The clock across the room read quarter past three, there were stubbles in Mr. Moribund´s face from where he shaved yesterday, there were stitches in the white chair he just wasn't able to see before. _Was this how it was supposed to be?_ Is this what the Dursleys had taken from him when they had chosen the cheapest glasses they could find and never let inform him that he was still almost blind with them? And how in Merlin's name had managed to even get near a Snitch a single time? 

It was better than winning the House Cup or fighting a Basilisk, or Werewolf, Dragon, Giant Spider, a three-headed dog, _yeah it was even better than flying for the first time._ He felt like somebody had turned up the graphics, and it was as magical as entering Diagon Alley with Hagrid. 

It seemed like Mr. Moribund was pleased by Harry reaction to seeing the world clearly for the first time in his life, letting go of the idea to take him to the hospital since the procedure had worked and just talked him briefly through the follow-up; eye drops every five hours and when they started to strain, no gloss or shimmer spell, no Animagi, nothing that could potentially hurt his eyes. Harry nodded along, taking the drops and leaving a good tip behind before leaving the store. He almost forgot to change his appearance again, transforming into his stern and somewhat arrogant-looking alter ego within a split second. 

His eyes were still green, but since they were blood shooted it shouldn't give him away as who he really was. 

There were leaves on the few trees when he stepped out onto the concrete, there were flies on windows, sticks and parchment pieces on the ground, and everything was so much more intense. He felt like he was on another planet, so different and similar to what he had known at the same time. And he loved it _so, soo much._

His next stop was Borgin and Burkes; it was just on the other side of the street, and while he might not find what he was desiring he would certainly get some important information. 

“How much would you pay for teeth, bones, scales, and skin of a Basilisk?” 

Harry or better Arcturus wasn't polite storming into the store, not even greeting the owner before taking him by surprise with his question. There was hunger in his eyes when he heard what the strange guy was offering him. _He might actually be in possession of Basilisk parts,_ something he had been looking for now decades without getting lucky, s _ince he seemed to be able to talk to those things._

“That would all depend on quality and quantity of the product, making an offer before seeing the goods would be nearly impossible and highly advised against, but-...” 

“It was full-grown, a couple of hundred years old and in good health before it died. So, what would be your offer, I am not going to waste my time here when I can sell them somewhere else faster and for more. How much?”

“If the quality is how described and I would be the exclusive buyer, then you can count on a couple of hundred Galleons, that's for sure, but-...” 

“Offer starts at a thousand, I will keep that in mind when selling. That would be it.” Harry left the store, an outraged Mr. Borgin left behind. A thousand Galleons was far more than he had planned on paying, but it could have been considered fair when keeping the rarity of the product in mind. Damn you, _no way he will get away getting a fair price in his shop_. But until he returned with the parts and he could talk them down until he was begged to buy them far under their worth, there was nothing left to do other than inform some exclusive buyers that he might get his hands onto something really special. 

Sadly for Mr. Borgin Harry knew how to play the game, and went to _Fledermaus and Tanner Bats and Skins_ for an estimated worth of the teeth and bones, and to _Mr. Mulpepper´s Apothecary_ to evaluate the price for liver, heart, brain, blood, poison, scales and all the rest of organs he could not name even if his life depended on it. The first estimation of a thousand Galleons was not that far off it seemed, and he decided to sell the organs to the Apothecary, scales, and skin to Borgin, and teeth and bone to whoever paid most. 

Mulpepper got more than excited to hear about such rear bones, and almost euphoric when he heard that Harry would sell to him or Borgin exclusively, all he offered to the one with the highest bet. _They would kill each other over this, and the price would rise and rise in the progress._

He didn't do this for himself, but for Ginny and the other Weasleys, the ones who had suffered the most due to the beast in the chamber and deserved the highest share Harry could achieve with some bargain. He knew for a fact that Ginny was still traumatized by being possessed and ending up almost killing an innocent student, and even if it was the smallest thing he could do he would make damn sure she would at least end up with the money the thing was worth. 

It was already five to eight, and he had almost an hour left to finish his shopping and meet Sirius. Was he alright, muggle London could be too overwhelming after being looked away for so long… He hoped Sirius would send him his Patronus if he got in trouble or lost, Harry would go on his way to meet him immediately. _Just don´t get into trouble, okay Sirius?_

His worry was without reason, since Padfoot still knew his way around Camden, throwing money like it was worth nothing, spending it on everything he had once owned and wanted back, as well as new things he deemed worth his time and effort. Sirius' favorites so far wear his collection of band shirts, the ones Mooney had bought in their sixth year and that had made his mother so angry she tried to burn them down, leaving them looking even cooler with pitch-black holes and tears at places that showed a sneak peek at his more than defined muscles. _Thanks,_ mum _, for bringing me Mooney's attention, the half-blood werewolf liked his old shirts on me very much._

Harry of course had not heard his godfather swooning about how good he used to look, and finished his shopping as fast as he could. _Cobb &Webb´s_, the store that refused to even let him enter the store as a twelve-year-old, now sold him a copy of _Salazar Slytherin's Biography: From myth to reality_ and _Phoenix: Majestic and Forgotten Truths about the Firebird_. All he needed now were some school books he would get in Diagon Alley as soon as Sirius returned from his trip to London. _If he returned from his trip to London._

Guilt about letting him go out alone and worry of him being exposed, captured, or even murder crushed Harry like a tsunami. What if it was already too late, what if he was gone, what if he lost him already, after not even one day. What should he tell Moony, who had found his brother after twelve years of waiting and had now lost him again due to Harry leaving him alone. _He had to get to him now, or it would be too late, everything would be too late, he had to run like someone's life depended on it because it did. His Sirius and Mooney's lives depended on how fast he made it out into Diagon Alley, on how fast he would find the person he depended on most._

There were people in his way as he dashed through the crowds, his only thought Sirius, not caring about who he hit, or how he started to return into himself, he just ran and ran and ran, until his darting eyes stopped on a head full of rust-red hair, worn by a man in a long red coat with too many shopping bags.

_Sirius_

Panting heavily and thanking Merlin or Jesus or _whoever_ that he decided to get his eyes done he sprinted the last meters to his godfather, jumping into his opened arms, holding onto him for dear life. _He was okay, not dead, not captured, not injured, nothing._ They were still together, Sirius and him, just like it should be. 

They were bags dropped all around them, scattered on the floor like they were worth nothing because at that moment not one of them cared if they got stolen or dirty or whatever, the only thing that counted was that neither was injured or in any sort of trouble. 

“Oh Merlin you are alright Harry, I thought who knows what had happened when you weren't at the shop, I almost called the Minister, or Moony or Dumbledore, or whoever could bring you back to me. _Never_ , and I mean _never_ do that again, showing up late without notice or message or warning. Do you understand young men? I may look like I am twenty, but my poor old heart is not that young anymore and I won't risk getting wrinkles and grey hairs from worrying about you so hard.”

“Don´t worry, already look like you are forty-four, so you have about ten years before you look your age again.” The betrayed look on Padfoots face was so worth it being put into another chokehold, and Harry laughed out of relief to know his godfather was safe. 

“I am half an hour too early, you should learn to read that fancy watch of yours you dung beetle.” 

Sirius looked down at his pocket watch with disbelief, not letting go of Harry; _it was indeed half an hour before they had decided to meet._

“Doesn't matter, I was here first, so you wear late. Now, let me invite you for some of Floreans ice cream before I change my mind. Have you tried her black walnut and butterscotch bowl jet? I swear that would be the one thing I would eat before I die, so that I could go with the sweet, nutty, and buttery goodness on my tongue. Nothing will ever compare, besides Hogwarts house-elves of cause.” They ended up ordering Floreans Homemade Butterbeer cup with cream and sour cherries on top, since they stopped making the walnut one years ago, much to Sirius' dislike.

“You don't understand Harry, I have been looking forward to this for years, and now they just stopped making them! _Did I break out for nothing_?” The last part was quite enough for only Harry to hear, but that didn't stop him from shushing his godfather. _Merlin_ , they wear at a public space, and they had met Skeeter not even five hours ago, he was still on the run and very much wanted. _How could he possibly be so reckless?_

“Come on, we´re alone here, nobody will care even if I scream it out loud. They will expect a run-down psychopath with his Azkaban uniform and not the coolness in person that I am. Stop worrying so much, or you will end up as wrinkled as my old house-elf.” 

He laughed while Harry raised an eyebrow. It started to grow on him, _the eyebrow move, not Sirius,_ irritating his opposite with the move of a single muscle. Especially Sirius, who seemed to be rather uncomfortable with Harry staring him down. He earned it with how much danger he brought over the two of them. _Take this, and tremble under my power._

They finished their bowls together, still fighting, still jocking, and Harry finally started to calm down from the adrenaline rush. Sirius was right, he had to trust him more and worry less, but it was so hard to leave him on his own, because, _and they both knew it_ , he would land in trouble before they could count to five. Maybe he could calm down when he knew Remus would be with him. _But Remus would be in Hogwarts._

He had to find something to keep him busy, something Padfoot would enjoy and that would help him settle back into his old life. There wasn't much happening when they first met, most of their time spent together was during summer break when Padfoot still had to go into hiding, unable to go after any passion he might have left. If the Minister could get him some work? Something with animals may be, he, after all, had the ability to communicate with cats to some point at least, but if he would like it? 

“Padfoot, have you ever thought about what you would like to do after the war when everything had calmed down and got a little safer. Was there anything you wanted to do?” Sirius huffed, a pained expression on his face. 

“I wanted to open up a store here in Diagon Alley, with some stuff the Marauders had created and things from the Muggles; music, a few clothing brands, maybe one or two things from them that just made sense. Did you know that they have those perforated paper things that function as your parchment? They were brilliant, I tell you, but only Lily got away with using them. They just gave me detention for breaking school rules, she got into the _Slug Club_." 

"Would you still like to do that? Or maybe something else?" Sirius had gotten detention for almost everything, so it was no surprise to hear of another incident causing him to stay after classes.

"No way I could open a store on my own, not without your father or Moony. There wouldn't be any customers for an ex-criminal with a Dark name. Hmh, all I ever really loved was going to Hogwarts, to be honest. Oh, what about a Professor? I could teach you in charms and take over for Flitwick, and, oh, I could have lunch with Moony and laugh about the first years! And of course, I would take over Head of Gryfindor, even if Gonny wouldn't go without a fight…" 

Okay, that was not what he was going for. Maybe he should be a little more specific. "Why not something with Animals? It would take years for you to finish your studies to become a Professor, and Hogwarts is not hiring at the moment. You can communicate with animals, right? Maybe you could help in the Magical Menagerie, or open your own dog saloon or something."

Sirius glared at him from the side, and it might have even been intimidating if it wasn't for the clump of ice cream hanging on his cheek. Harry smiled innocently and handed him a napkin, not letting go of his idea. 

"I mean, why not? There would be plenty for you to keep busy, you could change your appearance if you want, or turn into Snuffles without causing too much suspicion. Just think about it, this could be your chance to start over." 

It was already dark when they returned into the Leaky Cauldron, full and both thinking about their futures, waiting in front of the door until it was exactly three past nine, and walked into themselves disappearing with the time turner. 

"How did you get your fingers onto that thing? It's creepy how it actually works, without consequences and stuff. Hey, would you mind lending me that thing? _I won't do any mischief with it,_ pinky promise." 

He held one hand out to Harry to connect their pinkies and tried to grab the time turner from Harry's neck with the other. Harry slapped his hands away, not believing a word his godfather had said. I won't do mischief, I promise. Yeah, _of course,_ and he secretly had the desire to visit Aragog again. 

"Hands of, I know you would do everything in your power to wreak as much havoc as you could. And no, don't even think about it, the turner has a limed, _no going back 12 years possible._ Time-Travel is dangerous, I almost let you die the last time I used it, so forget about it. We will go to Egypt tomorrow, two boys are very eager to meet you, so better try to get some sleep while you still can. Did you at least buy a pair of Pajamas, or do you plan on sleeping in those things?" 

Harry gestured towards whatever Sirius was wearing, and Sirius jumped out of the chair he was slouching in, remembering at once that he had bought something for his favorite godson. 

"Even though you were a little brat ever since I met you, _so today and yesterday,_ I still decided to buy you something as special as me. Take that smug look off your face and don't you dare to make a sly come back now, I am about to make your life so much better!" 

Harry held his hands over his head, symbolizing that he wouldn't attack the defenseless, and waited till Patfoot had found the long, broom-shaped package out of the dozens of shopping bags. _What could be in this broom-shaped package with a Quality Quidditch Supplies sticker on it?_ He really had no idea, no, none at all. 

"Harry James Potter, see this as the gift me and your father would have kissed a ghoul over, and as your entry card into the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Nothing will stand in your way with the new FIREBOLT!" 

Sirius almost screamed the last word, so excited over the racing broom his face must hurt from smiling so big. Harry acted all shooked, accepted the broom, and started to rip the brown paper off. Did he forget that Harry was part of the team for his whole time in Hogwarts? Or did Harry even tell him? 

_Had he really forgotten to mention that he already played Quidditch, and was even team captain?_

The broom in his hands was as beautiful as Harry had remembered, sleek wood with silver foot stands and the twigs at the end perfectly trimmed. It really was a shame what had happened to the last one, he thought while inspecting the golden lettering on the wood. _Firebolt_ was stamped into the polish, but there was a small paw print right next to it. _He did not, no way he had it customized with his symbol._

High-notch players let the name or initials of their significant other imprinted onto their broom, to share their victory with whoever they deemed most important. _And Sirius was petty enough to leave his mark on the very expensive gift._

This time it was Sirius with the sly grin and Harry who slapped him on the back of the head. What a drama Queen.

"See it as a reminder of me when you make it in the team. And as payback for that awful collar." He was so damn proud and pleased with himself that Harry almost hesitated to pop his bubble. 

"If you are even half as talented as James and me, then there should be no way they are gone, reject you, don't worry. Even though I made it as a second year, that shouldn't stop you of course to try and play as well. Filling my boots would be impossible anyway." 

Okay, _okay, so much for his mercy._ He had brought it upon himself, and he should know better by know better than to underestimate Harry. 

"Ah, thank you, Sirius, this will come in handy when I go for Captain. My old Nimbus 2000 got wrecked last summer, and McGonagall started to worry if her best player would bring her the Quidditch Cup this year again, after getting so close two years in a row." 

He felt bad to take the credit from his whole team on himself, and he knew that he was only one from seven players, but holy Padfoot's face was amazing. "Two times? What do you mean, over your years at Hogwarts in your last life?" 

"No, no, I mean in this one. There are quite some expectations when you are the youngest Seeker in a century, not that I didn't overcome them by miles. You were a keeper, right? Yeah, I think McGonagall mentioned that you were not bad while she put the cups to the one you had won in ´77. _The only one you got, if I am correct."_

Sirius was so deeply shocked, about how Harry apparently became a first-year player _(something he and James had tried and failed),_ that he was a seeker _(the flashiest and most popular position)_ , and most important how he _didn't tell him any of that._

"WHAT? How-, how did you do it? _I knew you had it in you, the second you got your first broom from me you were destined to fly, but this is so much more than I had ever hoped for!_ What do you like most, and- and do you still have those old uniforms? The ones that have way too many laces and those weird leather straps?!" 

Even though he was a little hurt, his excitement about his godson achievement overshadowed every inch of his pettiness, because he was just so _proud_. James would have loved this, and it hurts not to have him here where he belonged.

Sirius didn't leave Harry alone until he knew every detail about his sports career, so it was far after midnight when they finally went to bed, Sirius dreaming about Quidditch and Harry on his broom, while Harry had one nightmare after another about seeing the twins again, not getting the rest he needed so badly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phuh, three days later than planned, but at least it´s a little longer than usual.n
> 
> My whole plans for this story have changed since Severus is a dick and doesn´t deserve the redemption arch that the original had planned, so who knows where this is going to end.
> 
> Btw, I came up with some of the stuff described, not everything in here is canon or even mentioned in the books or movies, so please don't quote on what I write here (for example, nobody really knows how much Basilisk parts are worth, or if players dedicate their brooms to someone, those just thinks I thought were neet.)
> 
> Spread love, my dudes, the internet needs it :)


	6. The first vacation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite duo goes on their first vacation ever, while trying not to get murdered by the Weasleys.

A house elve delivered a wake-up call at half-past eight, taking Harry out of his slumber. The night had been hard, filled with flashbacks and memories, not only about the war but also about Sirius, Remus and Fred dying.

  
  


Being with Sirius and Remus was easy; both knew how it was to lose their childhood in a war they were too young to fight in, and they could help Harry work through the issues they all had.

  
  


_ But the twins were different _ ; still as innocent as jokesters could be, and full of excitement for the future to come. They would have problems understanding what had happened to the boy they stole a car for, and it would be hard to convince them that nothing had happened.

  
  


_ Should he tell them? _ No, it would only make them miserable, and as long as it wasn't completely necessary he would shut his mouth.  _ Let's hope they wouldn't throw a tantrum over him. _

  
  
  
  


Harry packed their suitcase while Sirius was still sleeping; he wouldn't be a big help anyway, and Harry got some time to zone out and just concentrate on the task in front of him. His clothes went into his trunk, along with his school books, the hair products, Sirius shopping, and parts of the money he had taken out of his vault. Closing it was harder than collecting it; Harry  _ knew _ they had learned a spell for this situation at some point, but since he never owned enough to fill a suitcase he didn't see the need in remembering it.

  
  


Leaving some of Sirius’s muggle shirt out he forced the seals shut, moving on to the more delicate items. The  _ Time-Turner,  _ his  _ Invisibility cloak, the Nightshade Guide to Necromancy, Salazar's Memoir and Biography _ as well as the  _ Phoenix book _ disappeared into one of the Gringotts bags which he clipped to the inside of his cloak.

  
  


If asked he would say that he had stocked up on coins and wanted them near his body, a half-truth that was realistic enough to not cause too much attention.

  
  


Now there was only one thing left to do,  _ getting Sirius to wake up without ruining his mood _ , something only the gods knew how to manage. Padfoot would need some patients today since he was pretty sure the twins would find out he was, maybe not by themselves but definitely when they heard his nickname slip.

  
  


There was no harm in then knowing he was a Marauder or not even  _ the Marauder _ , but that could throw open the question of who the others were, and he knew the twins would treat him differently when they found out he was the son of Progs, godson of Padfoot and favorite student of Moony.

  
  


"Hey, Sirius, come on, wake up."

  
  


His voice was soft, almost a whisper, and it earned him not even a face twitch.

  
  


"We gotta go and get some Breakfast, wake up now,  _ seriously _ we have to go. There is a nice summer vacation waiting for you and me, so please move your lazy ass now out of  _ my _ bed.”

  
  


There was some rambling coming from under the covers, but nothing Harry could understand. Violence always worked, so he cuffed him in the side.

  
  


“Nooo, I don´t wanna get up, leave me alone you cheeky brat, I need my sleep!”

  
  


“Come on Padfoot, I already packed all of your ridiculous amount of stuff, all you have to do is get ready and eat so that we can go, we don't have time for this discussion now!”

  
  


Harry poked him in the side again, hitting all the spots he knew Padfoot was ticklish in.

  
  


“What would you like for breakfast, huh? Bacon, coffee, pancakes, sausages, or maybe eggs? Say a word and I will order them into our room. So, what do you want?”

  
  


An almost understandable sentence was formed, but Harry only smirked and asked again.

  
“I want sausages, and bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, with cream and sugar,  _ not that other stuff that makes you gag, _ syrup, waffles, and black pudding. You better hurry or I will go back to bed.”   
  


Harry laughed, standing up from the bedside and bowing playfully before Sirius while taking the blanket and leaving the room.

  
  


He heard Padfoot's scream even after he closed the door;  _ his godfather sounded like Harry had stabbed his favorite plushy animal to death _ , and not just made sure he wouldn't fall asleep again. Yup, he could be petty as well.

  
  
  
  


It took no more than ten minutes to return to his room; two big platters of sweet and savory food balanced on his arms. He opened the door with a murmured  _ Alohomora _ , only to find Sirius still laying on the bed, his new cloak draped over his scrunched-up body. Harry knew that Padfoot was wide awake and that he had already gone up to grab something to crawl under, but it was still funny to see him pretend to sleep so deep he didn’t even hear Harry enter.

  
  


_ Sirius hated not having a blanket, _ especially when in human form. Harry left out a small laugh while making his over to Sirius, stopping by Hedwig to feed her some bacon and give her head pads. Padfoot must have watched him, not happy about losing one out of his precious strips of bacon. Harry ate another piece to answer his indignation and ducted under the pillow that came flying his way.

  
  


Padfoot needed no more than seven minutes to down the first plate, and another three to demolish what was leftover on Harry´s. It was almost comically how fast he could eat, stuffing his cheeks even while swallowing.  _ Gross _ . 

  
  


He was hungry himself, but  _ that _ was another level. At least Padfoot was up now, with a full stomach and no caffeine in his system since even the lightest brew was too strong for his delicate taste buds. Harry had downed the black coffee in one go; without milk or sugar or cream, too tired from staying up all night to care. Sirius looked disgusted, but since he was almost choking himself Harry decided to ignore his opinion.

  
  


“So, what are we gonna do now? You said something about leaving.”

  
  


“Siriusly, you already forget?”

  
  


He was met with clueless eyes and Harry wondered why he was even surprised.  _ Of course, he had forgotten that they wanted to meet the Weasleys. _

  
  


“Egypt, Weasleys, twins? Does a bell ring?”

  
  


“Ohhh, you mean we´re gonna go on a vacation?”

  
  


_ Yes Sirius, you complete moron. _ It was hard not to facepalm or at least to  _ take Padfoot by the shoulders and shake him, _ but that would only damage what crumb of a brain was left inside of his head. So he forced himself to smile, asking Sirius to please use the restroom, and then prepared Hedwig's cage for the journey.

  
  


The only thing left to do was to wait for Padfoot to take shower and give him the first haircut in over a decade. Sirius came out of the bathroom smelling like Hibiscus and coconut, his hair untangled and almost reaching his armpits.  _ sweet Jesus _ , it was even worse than Harry had thought.

  
  


Padfoot sat  _ criss-cross applesauce _ before him, going into detail what haircut would  _ bring out most of his looks _ . Harry just hummed along while putting the  _ Sleekeazy's Hair Potion _ in. The scissor would do most of the work, all he had to do was charm them like instructed on the backside and he was good to go.

  
  


A good 30 cm came off, covering the floor around them, leaving Sirius with curly, chin-length hair. Shampoo and his grandfather's potions had repaired most of the damage malnourishment had caused, so it now was shiny and soft like a baby’s ass.

  
  


"FINALLY, oh, this was so good, I felt like a gypsy running around with hair like that. What’s next, beard or styling?"

  
  


Harry took a break while Sirius played around with the hairdryer, using it for everything but drying his hair. _ Keeping up with his shenanigans was even normally challenging, but now that he was tired everything was so much worse. _

  
  


He took over when he got sick of Pads doing everything  _ but _ what he was asked to do, finishing his haircut and moving onto his beard. No matter who much Sirius whined and pouted, the whole thing came off, leaving him with a clean face.

  
  


_ Yes, this was better. _ He was still pale and a little scrunched up, but that would change during the next weeks of the summer sun. Sirius got dressed in the most punk way he could manage while holding in mind that they would stay in Egypt in summer.

  
  
  
  


Harry held Hedwig and Sirius his trunk, and together they disappeared. The Egyptian sun was even hotter than he remembered, and he was tempted to turn into a Phoenix again to avoid it _. But then he would have to explain something even he didn't understand _ , so he rather grabbed Sirius and dragged him the last meters into the hotel.

  
  


Sirius dropped down onto the couch in the lobby while Harry got them a double room next to the one Ron stayed. They brought their stuff up, letting Harry’s trunk levitate over the stairs since neither Harry nor Sirius wanted to carry their shopping on six sets of stairs.

  
  


"What are we gonna do about Ron?"

  
  


"Who's that?"

  
  


Silence fell between them, and Harry was ready to commit a murder.

  
  


"Ronald Weasley,  _ my best friend _ , the one who held Wormtail as a pet and has no idea who he is and why I just snatched his rat and disappeared. Did you just forget who Ron is?!"

  
  


"Aw come on, of course not! I just…  _ didn’t remember him _ . More importantly, do you plan on telling him what had happened? The whole  _ TimeTravel _ thing you know."

  
  


"Shhh, shut it now, I don’t know jet, he might not take it well. I think I will wait for how he takes the news with you and Peter. Any ideas on how to tell your best friend that his pet is a mass murderer?"

  
  


"SCABBERS IS WHAT?"

  
  


_ Shit. So much for that. _

  
  


Ron stood in the doorframe, shooked into his bones at what Harry had said.  _ Come on, why always me? _ It was unfair how little luck he had 90% of the time.

  
  


He closed his eyes in regret of every decision that led him to standing here, before turning around to face Ron, who was pale even with his new tan. Harry took a deep breath and opened his mouth but no words came out. How was he supposed to start?

  
  


Ron took that decision of him, releasing who else stood in the room.

  
  


“Harry, that is  _ that Azkaban guy _ ! What is he doing here?!”

  
  


Sirius scrunched his nose, ready to explain that the Azkaban guy is  _ rude, thank you _ very much, but Ron gave him no chance to even say a word before he screamed again.

  
  


“ Wait, if you are here and Harry as well and Scabbers is gone, does that mean…

  
  
  


YOU WERE MY RAT, AND NEVER IN AZKABAN, THAT’S WHY THEY THOUGHT YOU ESCAPED! Harry, did you know about this? He killed your parents and a dozen muggles, and he lived with my family for 12 years! 

  
  


AND YOU SLEPT IN MY BED, YOU BASTARD!”

  
  


Harry had to physically hold Ron back from killing his godfather; he thought he was protecting his family, and whenever that happened he got  _ significantly more powerful and reckless. _

  
  


It was impressive how fast he had drawn false conclusions and somehow got the right picture.

  
  


“Ron, listen to me, this is Sirius Black, and he is indeed  _ the Azkaban guy _ , and he spent the last 12 years looked up convicted as a mass murderer.  _ But he is innocent _ , and we proved it to Dumbledore and the Minister yesterday, so please,  _ please _ take your wand down and let me explain this Ron. Here, come, take a seat, everything is okay, he is not going to hurt anybody.”

  
  


“ _ Azkaban guy _ , really? I am so much more than that,  _ I am a Maua- _ ...”

  
  


Harry cut him off with a stare so deadly it made his godfather swallow hard while he helped his new green friend into the nearest chair. He took a pillow from the bed and pressed it into his arms, taking his wand and laying it onto the counter. _ Ron had tried to defend him and Hermione even while standing on a broken leg last time, and not even Harry knew what he would do now. _

  
  


“Why are you friends with a murderer Harry, this makes no _ sense _ . Did he kidnap you? I will fight you if you even touch him,  _ come here and get wrecked!” _

  
  


He tried to jump up, without a wand or weapon besides his first, and Harry had to put his whole body weight into stopping his friend from beating up his Padfoot. His courage was flattering, but it really stood in their way right now.

  
  


"12 years ago a traitor told Voldemort where my parents were hiding. He was the reason why my parents died, and when he was confronted by a friend of my parents he blew a street up and killed twelve Muggles. The word of Voldemort's defeat and the end of the war traveled fast, and Sirius was put into prison for a lifetime. You know the story, your father must have told you when the news came a few days ago.

  
  


What most people didn’t know was that my parents had changed the secret keeper for the  _ Fidelius Charm _ they were hiding under, from Sirius here to Peter Pettigrew. Both were close friends, but Peter was so untalented and  _ useless _ he was very likely to be overlooked, especially since Sirius was expected to take the role, being close as brothers with my father.

  
  


But Peter Pettigrew had switched sides during the war, and betraying his friends was the last step to become Voldemort's favorite. On the night of Halloween '81, after Voldemort had murdered my family, Peter came to look if it had worked out, and to congratulate his master. Instead of an overpowered Voldemort, he found a destroyed house and three corpses, and me in my crib. He took off with Voldemort's wand, going after someone to push the blame on.

  
  


Sirius wanted to visit Peter that day, to celebrate Halloween and make sure he was alright, and when he found an empty flat he flew to Godric's Hollow, checking on the Potters. He took me out of the rubble, gave me to Hagrid, and went after Peter for revenge.

  
  


They meet in an Alleyway, Peter with his master's wand behind his back starts screaming, accusing Sirius of being the traitor, and then blows up the whole street. He cut off a finger as evidence for his death, transformed into a rat, and disappeared into an open pipe.

  
  


Sirius was found, arrested, and taken into Azkaban without a trial or chance of defeat, where he spent 12 years for a crime he didn't commit. Peter went looking for a Wizard Family that would take him in until Voldemort returned, and he found Percy.

  
  


Scabbers is old for a normal rat, am I right?"

  
  


"Yeah,  _ but that doesn’t _ -"

  
  


"And there is something else notable about him, something you pointed out when we first meet."

  
  


"That he's  _ useless _ ?"

  
  


"No," Harry almost laughed.  _ Of course, he remembered that part _ , and he was so right.

  
  


"That he is missing toe. And you weren't the only one who realized that. Sirius saw the picture of you in the Daily Prophet, and he recognized the rat with only nine toes right away. That was his reason to escape, to make sure that I am safe."

  
  


"What? No, Sccrabers lost it during a fight or something, no, this makes no sense, Harry  _ why do you tell me this?" _

  
  


Harry cuffed Ron's face with his hands; it was warped with disbelief and confusion, he simply refused to believe what he was told because he did it would break the world he had been living in.  _ There would be no innocence left if murderers betrayed their closest friends, and then lived as children's pets, sleeping in their beds. _

  
  


It hurt Harry  _ so bad _ to take that away from him, that childlike trust he still had in friendship and the world, but if that was what it took to ensure Sirius’s safety, he would do it.  _ Over and over again, every time, because the world isn't kind and friends don't last forever. _

  
  


"Because it is the truth, Ronald. And I am so sorry for not finding out earlier, and that I was not able to save you and your family from being betrayed. But you must understand that Sirius is not who they told you. It will be in the Daily Prophet today, the whole story, but it was important to me to tell you first. Can I let you go now?"

  
  


Ron was green and white; he started to realize that Harry wasn’t lying, that even though he didn’t understand how or why it had happened, the wrong person had been looked up at the worst place on earth.

  
  


"Yeah"

  
  


His voice was tight, and his hands clutched the pillow even harder. It was a personal insult to find out his pet had only pretended to be his pet, and it made him question whoever else was also only pretending.

  
  


"Do you trust him? And I mean to trust him with your life."

  
  


Harry looked him straight in the eyes, voicing that  _ yes, yes he _ did.

  
  


"And you,  _ Black _ , do you trust Harry? Would you protect him when he needs you to?"

  
  


"I would die for him."

  
  


There was no mocking in his voice, he was completely serious, nothing hinting towards him not believing what he had said. It was strange to see the two people Harry was closest to being so  serious because they were the ones joking and taking things lightly.

  
  


Ron had always been brave when he got scared, he had been the one sacrificing his all to keep his family and friends safe, and now he sat there, talking to someone he deemed  _ dangerous _ to everyone he loved, and still decided to follow Harry’s lead. And that only because he trusted Harry to make the right call, to be the one knowing better.  _ Ronald was the best friend he could ever imagine having, and he was so grateful to call him that. _

  
  


"Okay. If Harry says your good, I am not gonna call you mental. At least not out loud." Sirius huffed, coming closer to the two of them.

  
  


"You better not. And please, Harry’s friends call me Sirius or  _ Padfoot _ , whatever floats your boat. I haven’t been a Black for a long time now, and  _ the Azkaban guy _ isn’t as flattering as you might think."

  
  


He stretched his hand out, a small smile spread over his thin face. Ron accepted the handshake with hesitation, checking with Harry if it really would be okay.

  
  


"How long are you gonna stay? We planned on visiting the Pyramids tomorrow, I am sure that you can come with us if you want."

  
  


The conversation was a little forced, but Harry gladly went along.

  
  


"Sure, but I think that we should wait to ask until everybody knows that Sirius is innocent. I have a feeling that they don’t want to see him right now, except for maybe the twins."

  
  


Ron attempted to raise his eyebrows, but it looked more like he was trying to seduce someone rather than intimidated.  _ Haha, so only Harry was able to do that, get wrecked redhead. _

  
  


"Tomorrow, we can go over this when the others are here. Where are they by the way?"

  
  


"Went on a cave tour with Hermione, but I rather stayed here. Should be back for dinner I think."

  
  


"Why didn’t you go with them?

  
  


"Cause there are spiders in there, and not even ten Hippogriffs could drag me into another nest  _ of those monsters _ ."

  
  


Both showed their disgust with what had happened prior there holidays, and with the sheer horror, Aragog's family had represented.  _ Disgusting _ , even after five years.

  
  


"Any plans on what to do now?"

  
  


"Nah, I wanted to go swimming and lay in the sun a little, but that would be it. Wanna come? There is that little ice cream shop downstairs which is like super nice, and I can finally pay you something of your money back."

  
  


Even though Ron smiled, Harry knew how much he hated being in Harry's dept, and how much he wanted to come even. At least he would have the money soon to do so if that's what makes him sleep at night.

  
  


"Sure, but I don't think I can eat that much Ice cream. But if you grant me to go there with Ginny I could think about letting every debt go."

  
  


Harry grinned cockly at his friend who seemed to go through five emotions at once, stopping at being shocked.

  
  


"HARRY!  _ Not in a million years are you gonna go ou _ -, no, I can't even  _ say _ it out loud, no way you are gonna make a move on her! You know she has a crush on you, and that is bad enough! She will never stop swooning about you if you give her hope, and no way I let you play with my sister!"

  
  


"I'm not planning on playing with her, and it was a joke, Ron. I'm not going to ask her out, not before we get a little older I mean. But I have to say that she is really cute."

  
  


Ron almost screeched when he heard Harry talking about Ginny like that, and every friendship was forgotten when he jumped onto him to smack those thoughts out of him.

  
  
  


They ended up eating ice cream at the riverbank of the Nile, enjoying the really, really hot sun. Ron, still white from the  _ always safe sunscreen _ , swam with Sirius, jumping from the highest rocks they could find into the clean water. Padfoot looked like he was a teenager himself again as he fetched after Ron who had splashed him in the face.

  
  


Harry enjoyed seeing the two of them having fun, but not  _ ten horses could bring him into a big collection of water _ . Almost drowning during the Triwizard Tournament had left his mark on him, and even the thought of going swimming made his skin itch and his mind go feral. So he sat at the shore, tanning while reading the book about Phoenix, feeling like Hermione.

  
  


He got it now, the appeal of just laying back for a few hours doing nothing, unlike his best friends who were still screaming like little children. But he had literature to hold against their antics, and he was more than pleased to finally catch up on time for himself. He was about halfway through the chapter about the Singing of the Firebird when he started to feel his eyes getting heavier and heavier, and he decided to close them,  _ just for a moment _ …

  
  
  
  


There were steps around him that didn't fit the scene he was in. He was back in his fourth year, and he had just won the second round; he was celebrating in the common room when the picture shifted.  _ The people around him stopped cheering and started screaming, some in pain, others in agony, and one after another they fell to the ground. There was the smell of blood, burned flesh, and death in the air, and the scenery changed once again, now he was at the Battle of Hogwarts, the Great Hall filled with people he knew and loved laying dead on the ground. It was silent now, only his ears rang while he stood there shocked, reading what was written in blood all over their body;  _ carved into their foreheads, smeared onto the walls, it even hung over them in the air;  _ You have killed us, Harry, this is what you did, you murderer. _

  
  


He wanted to scream, there were more steps around him, the room started spinning, his scar burned into his forehead and there was a voice inside his head, whispering and somehow screeching at the same time,  _ Harry, Harry _ , over and over again. It was Voldemort, Harry knew it, and there was someone else, laughing while he crumbled under the guilt and pain, someone who was locked up far away but still held so much power over his thoughts…

  
  
  
  


Water splashed at his face, ripping him out of the nightmare that was so close to what had actually happened only a few days ago.  _ He had murdered them, their blood was on his hands, it was his fault, all of it, they were dead, he had… _

  
  


"HARRY! Hey, what happened, come on, talk to me, you scare me!"

  
  


Harry wheezed when he saw Sirius and Ron standing over him, dripping wet and concerned. _ Why were they here, they were dead, I killed them, all of them, why are they here… _

  
  


It took him a hot five seconds to figure out that it was a dream, that he left his fourth-year ages ago and wasn't in a battle anymore, that all of them were still alive, somewhere in this new TimeLine. He started laughing, from the bottom of his stomach and it shook his whole body. He was so relieved,  _ so soo relieved.  _

  
  


"It was just a dream, it didn't really happen, oh Merlin it's over."

  
  


"Was it about who-should-not-be-named?"

  
  


"Yeah, it was about him… was it really necessary to almost drown me?"

  
  


Ron grinned at him, still concerned but way less than Sirius. Padfoot looked ready to take him to the hospital, the Minister or even a phychoristis, _ to whoever could make him feel better. _ It was sweet of him, but Harry didn't need pampering, he needed a friend he could rely on, and as long as he stayed with him he would be okay.

  
  


“Yeah mate, you should have seen your face. Thought you were about to scream and get hysterically how bad you tossed. Are you sure you are okay? Hermione gave me that thing to talk to her, couldn't quite make it work but maybe you know how.”

  
  


He handed him a telephone, and Harry was painfully reminded how his friend had tried to call him a few years ago.  _ Wasn't that in second grade? If so, then why did Hermione trust him with a cellphone?  _

  
  


“I´m okay, but I can write to her if you want. Here, look, you have to go into contacts, then on Hermione and open chat.  _ Hey Mione, here's Harry. Hope you are having fun, and please don´t give Ron a phone. _ And sent.”

  
  


Both Ron and Sirius stared with huge eyes, neither of them had interacted with muggle technology before. 

  
  


“And when will the message arrive? Do you have to put a spell on that thing for it to work or does it come with one already?”

  
  


“Oi, Harry I want one of those things as well! Then I could write to you and Moony while you guys are in Hogwarts! Can you buy one of those in a SuperMarket, or what those things are called?”

  
  


“If he gets one then I want one as well! Mione said I have to give this one back to her when she comes back, said something that it was for her dad or so. What about the voice thing, where you can hear the other person even though they are like miles away, can that thing do that too?”

  
  
  


_ Damn you, Hermione, this was one of your rather less intelligent ideas. “ _ No, I can´t and I won't. They wouldn't work in Hogwarts since all electric items are blocked, and no you don't have to charm them. The voice thing is called calling someone, and no I won't show you how to do it. Let's just get back to the hotel, I want to shower before the others come back.”

  
  


_ And I have to come up with a plan on how to explain why he and his godfather had appeared out of nowhere. _

  
  


“Oh, come on, why does only Hermione get to do the fun things? She doesn't even play around with them.”

  
_ That's exactly why she got them in the first place, Ronald. _

  
  
  
  
  


Fresh out of the shower and ready for his second meal of the day Harry went downstairs; Sirius and Ron waited already for him because even though Harry had dipped the shower first Sirius had still managed to sneak in before him. But being last also meant that he had more time to think about how to explain the situation, so he was only a little mad at Padfoot for snatching his shower time. 

  
  


He wasn't quite sure what to start; should he tell them the story of how his parents died, or should he skip to where it got interesting? When should he show Sirius? Most of those decisions were taken out of his hand when he left his room; there was chattering coming from the dining hall, and he could make out Arthure reading out loud and the commentary of the twins.  _ Seems like the cat was already out of the bag _ . Let's just hope Padfoot had disappeared before they had arrived.

  
  


“Sirius Black was awarded the Merlins Orden second class, as well as an estate and a suspension to make up for the time spent in Azkaban. Molly,  _ do you believe this _ ?

  
  


Your brothers always said that it had to be Black, a man with a name as black as his soul. Do you think we should tell Harry?”   
  


“Tell me what?”   
  


“Harry! By Merlin's Beard, where did you come from?”

  
  


“I decided to go under for a while, after the news you know.”

  
  


He pointed at the Daily Prophet in Arthur's hand while smiling at the twins and waving towards Ginny. Hermione and Ron were the only ones not shocked out of their bones.

  
  


“So it's true?  _ Sirius Black is innocent and you helped to arrest the real murderer of your parents _ ?”

  
  


Both Molly and Hermione gasped at Fred's bold statement, but Harry didn't mind. It was not the first time he was reminded of his parent's death, and it certainly wouldn't be the last one.

  
“Yes, Sirius is indeed innocent and Peter is the traitor. There is one last thing that isn't mentioned in the article I guess; Sirius is my godfather and here with me. Padfoot, why won't you come out?”

  
  


There were three reactions when the black dog next to Crookshanks turned into a man wearing a dreadful cloak; _ mild surprise from Ron, a far more surprising reaction from most the Weasleys, and absolute shock from the twins. _

  
  


“He is here?!”   
  


“Your GODFATHER?”

  
  


“PADFOOT?!”

  
  


The twins were by far the loudest, screaming through the whole room in union and absolute disbelief.

  
  


“Are you the Padfoot? Like in  _ Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs? _ Are you really a  _ Marauder _ ?!”   
  


Not even Sirius was able to word that  _ yes, he was a Marauder and probably the best one besides Moony _ when the twins already jumped over the table, kneeling before him.

  
  


“We own you our greatest Mischief Mr. Padfoot, and we thank you and your friends for creating the masterpiece that allowed us to continue your great legacy. _ Please, take our vow to follow you wherever you want us, Master of all Mischief.” _

  
  


Harry broke out laughing at Serious face; he looked so overwhelmed and shocked at the amount of appreciation he was given that he couldn't even speak.

  
  


“Fred, Gorge, enough of that madness! What do you think you are doing?”

  
  


“Mum, this man is the reason we were able to do our greatest pranks and not get caught, he is a living legend in the archives of Hogwarts pranksters, with the swamp flood in ´75”   
  


“Or the feather fight in ´73”

  
  


“Or the hundert Dumbledors in ´76”

“Or the-”

  
  


“Enough I said! Get over here now, or there will be consequences!”

  
  


Fred and George stood up, beaming at the outstretched hand Padfoot was offering.  _ They shook it as it belonged to Merlin of Godrick Gryffindor himself _ , and Molly was about to have an angry attack when they walked back with their heads bowed.  _ Dorks, both of them.  _

  
  


“Hey, what do you mean he is the reason all your pranks worked out?”

  
  


“That Ron,”

“Is one of the four Marauders,”

“ _ Masters of Mischief _ and creators,”

“Of the fantastic Marauders Map,”

“Which is the reason we are still allowed to attend Hogwarts.  _ Harry, does that mean your father was…” _

  
  


“Yes, his father was a Marauder es well, of course, he was, Prongs was my best friend after all and with me and Moony the reason the map was even possible.”

  
  


No matter how much Molly screamed and threatened to take their wands away or even  _ worse _ , Fred and George jumped over the table a second time, crash landing before Harry while declaring their undying love for his father and his friends.

  
  


“Oh, did you break into Filch's Office to get the map or did somebody give it to you guys?”

  
  


“We got it in our second year,”

  
“Were looking for a  _ screeching Yoyo _ if I remember correctly”

“When we found it in the box labeled Dangerous and cursed,”

“And  _ no way we could leave something like that behind.  _ Took us a while to get the phrasing right though,”

“But once we nailed it there was no stopping us. Would you like to hear about what we came up with?”

“It could never compare to the genius plans you made, but some of them were pretty close-”

  
  


“I SAID ENOUGH! Harry, what is going on here, what are  _ the Marauders,  _ and why are my sons hailing a man that was a murderer not even 12 hours ago?!”

  
  


“My father and his friends formed a group called  _ the Marauders _ during their school years, which was known to cause a lot of trouble among students and teachers. Their biggest que was the Marauders Map, a magical map of Hogwarts. As bad as it makes me feel, Fred and George, see them as their pre-assessors, the ones they try to live up to. And they are on a good way to be the second generation, much to McGonigal's dislike.”

  
  


There were five voices at the same time, all demanding answers.

  
  


“Guys, you had a map of Hogwarts and never told me? I was battling Snakes, Trolls, and Who-must-not-be-named, I needed it-”   
  


“Your father was a  _ troublemaker _ ?! I thought he was Prefect and Quidditch Captain! How could he be-”

  
  


“McGonagall spoke of us? What did she say, Harry,  _ did she mention what a heartthrob I was, or how good you father-” _

  
  


“Second-generation? Really, George,  _ we made it _ ! After all those years,”

  
  


“We were compared to  _ the gods _ themself! I can die in peace now-”

  
  


“QUIET! This is no playground where we scream over each other” 

  
  


_ Says the one screaming louder than all the others, _

  
  


“We are civilized and can talk at a normal volume, please, there are other people here who would like to enjoy their meals without a hoard of Bangshees crawling in their ears. Excuse me please, there was big news this evening. 

  
  


Now, let's go upstairs before we are being kicked out, come on, let's go.”

  
  
  
  


They all walked up the stairs, a mourner  _ unbelievable  _ and  _ can you believe it _ followed them when they entered a more private room.

  
  


“Molly, I know that you don't like Fred and George being a little….chaotic but please don´t blame it on Sirius here, it was not his intention to make create new troublemakers, but to help the ones that the ones who already proved to be up to mischief by stealing the map. He is my _ godfather, _ and I would really like you guys to get along.”

  
  


“ _ Encouraging _ doesn’t make it any better-”

  
  


“Molly, sweetheart, you know how the twins are. They would have found a way to make as much trouble with or without that thing. Nobody can stop them, especially us.  _ Give him a chance,  _ it would be unfair not to, causing a little trouble in school should not make you think less of him.”

  
  


_ Well, it was certainly more than a little, but if that is what it takes to convince Molly to be more open he would let it slide. _ Harry cleaned his throat, turning the attention back onto him.

  
  


“Fred, George, you guys had the map for so long now you must have memorized the whole thing. Would you mind passing it down to me, it would be nice to have the piece my father and godfather had worked on so long.”

  
  


“Yeah, I would appreciate it if it comes to the next-gen, that's what we had in mind when storing it in Hogwarts.”

  
  


“Sure, no problem Harry,”

“Had planned on handing it over to you anyway,”

“But if you want it now you can have it,”

“But could we maybe have an endearing conversation with your godfather?”

  
  


Harry snorted at the way Ron looked so betrayed at his brother's word.  _ That's for waking me up with cold water, and that's for you Sirius. _

  
  


“I am sure he would love to, but I'm afraid we almost have no time left before school start,” the twins almost  _ sulked  _ under his words,  _ like plans starved of water and sun, _

  
  


“But I am sure Moony would help you out in that matter.”

  
  


“Who is he? _ Can we meet him _ ?”

“Oh, and what about Wormtail? Could we ask him questions too?”

  
  


They were so excited Harry got dragged along, ignoring Sirius for a moment and just concentration on making the two boys happy.

  
  


“Yes, you can meet Moony, and good news for you, he will visit Hogwarts this year! I won´t tell you more, the rest is a surprise. Wormtail is out of the question, except if you planned on  _ going to Azkaban soon. _ What do you think of Padfoot, could we erase his name from the map?  _ It's not like he contradicted more than snooping around to it.” _

  
  


A gasp went through the room at the moment when they realized what Harry was indicating.

  
  


“Oh, the sooner the better,  _ had planned on doing that for 12 years now _ , but a trip to Hogwarts didn't quite come into question. What about right now?”

  
  


“Fred, George, could we have the map? And Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, could I maybe join you on your trip tomorrow? If it wouldn't create too many problems I mean.”

  
  


“Oh no Harry darling, we would be glad to have you join us.  _ Fred, George, bring them the map thing now, and don't you dare play a trick now!  _ What about you…”

  
  


“Sirius please, I don't really like being called by my last name Mrs. Weasley.”

  
  


“Oh,  _ of course _ , I understand. Molly then please Sirius, and this is my husband Arthur, my daughter Ginny”

  
  


Ginny shyly waved her hand and turned tomato red when Harry threw her a smile.  _ Sweet, but I think I liked her better with a little wit and sass. She will grow into it though, anytime soon. _

  
  


And my sons Percy, Bill, Charlie and Ron. I am sure you and he had already met when you first arrived.”

  
  


Percy nodded politely, nothing personal but also not too formal, Charly threw a peace sign and Bill extended his hand out to Padfoot, grinning like a madman.

  
  


“Look mum, I am not the only one with long hair. Nice tattoos, by the way, I think of getting some myself.”

  
  


Harry knew he was joking, but Molly on the other hand didn't and wasn't happy about her son going even more punk (or  _ unprofessional _ how she called it) and started to lecture him on how that wasn't something  _ a Ministerium worker should do, and imagen if your father turned up with piercings and tattoos-  _

  
  


She was cut off by her middle children entering the room, humming a righteous melody while holding the piece of parchment-like a sword.

  
  


“ _ On this day we return the Map of the Marauders to their owners, may it bring luck to them and mischief to his enemies _ .”

  
  


Not even Hermione could keep a straight face at the twins' antics, and when Padfoot stood upfront to receive the map even Arthure giggled a little. Not Mrs. Wealsey though, who looked a little miserable.

  
  


“ _ I shall thank you for keeping hold of it while I was gone, I will bring it to good use and pass it down when the time comes _ .”

  
  


_ In ten minutes that would be. _ They went up into their room, leaving the twins bowing and dramatically wiping a tear away, Ron scolding his brothers on why he never knew on the map, Ginny blushing and teasing Ron and the rest with a soft smile. Even Mrs. Weasley seemed a little better now, knowing that the map was now out of reach for her kids. _ Or at least Fred and George safe. _

  
  


They revealed the hallways and secret tunnels with an “ _ I solemnly swear to be up to no good _ ”, and taking the second name away with  _ Evanesce _ , a spell he had problems casting back in McGonigal's classroom but now worked as smoothly as he had hoped. 

  
  
The Map was left with  **Messrs. Moony, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders Map.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It´s short, waaay shorter than the last one, but since I kind of like where the last one ended and this one more of a filler is I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see this. 
> 
> Btw., is Ron accurate? We all know the movie adaption was sheit, and I read so much fanfiction about him and his friendship with Harry that I really don´t know anymore what is canon and whatnot. In my defense, it has been 10 years at this point when I last read the whole series, so forgive me for screwing characteristics up.
> 
> Leave love like always (Idk why I still write this but who cares), there might be someone who needs it today :)


	7. Of Serpents and riddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry travels through Egypt, there are hidden messages on the walls and an old frenemy.

"Oi, look at that one Harry, it looks like one of those things!"

  
  


Ron pointed at a Hieroglyph that clearly showed an eagle. It was now the fifth time he found this one on the walls full of tiny pictures that littered the whole corridor and Harry started to believe he was doing it on purpose.

  
  


They had left the hotel early in the morning, leaving Sirius to lay in the sun and enjoy the time to think about his future. He was sure to spend the last few hours alone rather than with his grandson, who would leave the next morning to start his year in Hogwarts. It was hard on him to constantly be around people, and the noise and movement around overwhelmed him after 12 years of isolation, and the most famous tourist attraction would push the limit too far.

  
  


So Sirius stayed back, to stare at the wall of his hotel room before moving on into a private part of the riverbank, starting his letter to Moony.  _ What do you write about your kind of ex-lover who thought he had killed their best friend _ ? He didn't know, nor did anybody else, so he did what he did best; mocking others in an attempt to hide how anxious he was.

  
  


“Hey Moony, sure hope it's okay to call you that, cause I won´t stop you know. I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am for what happened.”

  
  


Padfoot stared at the words that didn't state what he really felt. Was he sorry?  _ Yes, but he was so angry he almost couldn't feel it. _ This is not how it should be, he should not have to write this letter to the man he had hoped to call his husband by now. The last line was erased with the wink of his wand, leaving only the first line standing.

  
  


_ No, no, no, _ this is not how it should be, I don't want to do this, this is so so  _ wrong. _ Tears fell onto the parchment, tears of anger, regret, pain and fear, fear of being rejected, and all of those emotions mixed like the drops mixed with ink.

  
“You have been Moony for as long as I remember, as long as I want to remember you have been my Moony. There is nothing else I want to call you other than Sweetheart and Moons, and maybe my boyfriend. 

That I even have to state this is so ridiculous and false and everything bad in this god abandoned world _ because we have always belonged together and tearing us apart was the most spiteful thing to ever happen in this universe. _

I am sorry that I left you, but I am even angrier that I had to. No money or title or house could possibly make up for the time we have lost, during the war and after, when we finally had the chance to settle down. This is my sad attempt to ask you to spend what is left with me, to scream a big fuck off at the world because we are still here because you are my Moony and there is no other person I would want to spend eternity with (except for Harry, but you will learn that when you met him properly and won´t hold it against me :) )

Btw, I am totally holding you to your promise to go to Paris with me, and even if you don't want to fix whatever is between us, _ a promise is a promise and you don´t break them when you swear on your Marauder Pride. _

Please, give me a chance to be the partner you deserve,

Your Padfoot 

He couldn't bring himself to read it over before he stormed inside, hastily tying the letter together before stuffing it between Hedwig's claws and screaming that it was for Remus Lupin  _ and very urgent. _ The snow owl took her sweet time to leave her cage, flying out the window, and with her, all of Sirius hope to ever win his love over.

  
  
  
  


Harry walked through the corridors of the burial chambers the same time Sirius dragged his feet outside to go back to sunbathing, deeply regretting ever trusting Peter. His thoughts about his godfather were stopped when he saw a gemstone embedded next to an eye in the wall, over to the carygripication of a snake. It was deep red, about the size of his thumbnail, and seemed to shimmer in the sunlight even though they were meters under the earth.  _ Strange _ .

  
  


They walked deeper and deeper, and the closer they came to the heart of the sanctuary the more eyes followed his every step. They were hidden between washed-out symbols, starring from the ceiling or looking up from the corners of the floor. The biggest one was over the entrance to the main chamber, over the lettering  _ Burial Chamber of L.Y.T.N. Seraphina. _

  
  


There was another paragraph next to the entrance; 

  
  


_ “I faded away without a sound or word, hard to understand for the ones left behind. But I swear we will be reunited, dancing in heavens with the queen of our love. “ _

  
  


The next part was almost completely faded away, unconserved, and seen as unimportant.

  
  


_ “My dearest husband; death separates us even in the world of the living, and I will never understand why you saw our destiny as an enemy and not our biggest adventure. Life is the riddle to never be solved, but death is the mystery to be uncovered. Follow your silvan into the great beyond, I will be waiting.” _

  
  


“Ej, Harry look, this one looks like the- Harry? What are you doing there? The tomb is here.”

  
  


Ron looked a little stunned when his friend said he found something interesting and would follow in a minute because all he could see were more Hyroghlips that looked pretty much the same as the ones next to the mummy.

  
  


“´kay, just don´t stay too long, I think the twins planed something stupid, and I really don´t wanna miss them messing up.”

  
  


Harry hummed along and waited for Ron to leave before he pulled out the leather pouch from his cloaks. It was filled to the rim, by far not as spacey as the one Hermione had, and a few gold coins fell out when he dug for the notebook, feather, and ink.  _ Should have bought a muggle pen, this ink is just stupid. _

  
  


It took him almost five minutes to write down the three sentences and the name, spilling ink all over his hands and the page. What landed on the parchment disappeared, leaving a neat copy of the words from the wall.  _ Well, that´s handy. _ He hurried to stuff everything back into the pouch and jogged back to the others, not wanting to miss Percy getting looked up by Fred and George.

  
  
  
  


The rest of the tour was rather uninteresting; a few eyes here and there, but no other message of hint on who had left them. At least the others had fun, pointing at parts of ancient pictures and comparing them to handwritings of their teachers and classmates.  _ Almost as bad as Nevills, Snape would hex you for that and not even Binns was that messy _ were amongst their favorites. 

  
  


Harry nodded along, just wanting to leave and get back to Sirius and spend the last few hours together when Mr. Weasley declared they would visit the nearest Wizarding market.

  
  


“Stay together to not get lost, I heard it's quite big and hard to look over.  _ Jakarta  _ and  _ Aswan  _ street only, stay away from  _ Althaeban Passage _ , or _ I swear by Merlin you will regret it _ . It is not like Knockturn Alley, not even Bill would go in there alone . You will get kidnapped or  _ worse  _ if you even set foot in there, countless tourists have gone missing, been cursed, or even killed. This is a dark and dangerous place, none to snoop around and finds funny things.”

  
  


“That's where the last Quidditch World Cup referee showed up, two months after he went missing.”

  
  


Yeah, that sounds like the right place to look for some more…  _ restricted information. _ He would definitely check it out, and make sure the twins would hold their word of not doing something stupid.

  
  


Traveling to the market was rather unpleasant; it was the same system to enter the Ministerium, and Harry had hoped to never set foot in another toilet again. But he had a minute to transform into his alter ego before the next Weasley came, and he disappeared in a side street looking like  _ Arcturus Flinch _ . He stood out, being taller and a redhead didn't help him to sink in the masses, but he looked intimidating enough to not get targeted by some street handler on his way to  _ Althaeban Path _ . 

  
  


It was lighter than Knockturn, with the sun exposing even the most hidden corners, though the goods were so much darker. Human remains as well as a collection of creatures and beasts were open for sale next to whole libraries full of books about the _ Dark Arts, _ most in Arabic and some in French, only a few English ones sprinkled across. The titles he could read made his stomach turn, and he would rather stop using his wand before he read about who to transform a human into a puppet. _ He didn't need a book for that, he could just ask his old headmaster for advice. _

  
  


The rest was similar to the first few corners he saw, and he would explore the rest one day when he found somebody who spoke the language and would guide him. But now he only had time to check what he came for, the price of Basilisk parts. There was none he could see, but telling from the other giant snakes that were up for sale he could raise his price a little more before hitting a sweet spot.  _ Good to know, Mr. Burke would hate it when he would hear his new offer. _

  
  
  


Harry left the same way he came in, only turning back into himself when he was in the middle of a crowd in  _ Jakarta _ , having spied a Weasleys not far away.

  
  


“Look at that Hermione, isn't this cool?”

  
  


Ron held up a miniature of the tomb they had visited, and it opened with a hissing sound to reveal what was supposed to be the spirit trapped inside.

  
  


“Very cool, but I would rather look for Harry than go shopping. Are you sure you saw him enter the toilet?”

  
  


“Yes Mione, he's alright, no need to worry. Harry always gets out of trouble, you know him. He's probably looking at some Quidditch stuff and forgot to tell us. Here, what about that?”

  
  


Hermione was unimpressed when looking at the four-sided pyramid, which spelled different Hieroglyphs in the air if you found the hidden mechanisms.

  
  


“I don't have a good feeling about this, we should tell your dad or Bill,  _ no we should have told them right when he disappeared, _ rather than saying he was with us. Why did you bribe him to cover up for him again, you heard how dangerous it is here, what if he was kidnapped, oh my we have to go and search for him  _ immediately _ , what if You-know-who- got him and-”

  
  


“Hey guys, sorry for being late, I met a really cool snake on the way and forgot the time, wanna see her?”

  
  
  


He held the cobra he had snatched from a snake-summoner on his way and had asked her politely to scare his friends for him.

  
  


Hermione screamed, ready to punch him for frightening her and probably almost getting kidnapped, but was stopped by the hissing shield of the young cobra.

  
  


“Harry! How dare you just leave like that,  _ I thought _ you-know-what  _ had happened to you!” _

  
  


Harry at least tried to look guilty while putting down the snake who hissed once more before disappearing in the shadow.  _ Snakes are nice if they aren't 15 meters long. _

  
  


“Yeah, was a close call to letting my dad know you were gone. Now that you're back, look at that awesome tomb I found!”

  
  


Harry chuckled while Hermione pushed Ron, and together they made their way through souvenirs and some interesting artifacts. He ended up with a book about the builder of the pyramid he promised Hermione to lend, and one of those magic cameras that produced moving pictures. They tried it out immediately, all goofing around with the huge monument in the background, using up a whole package of film tape. He bought as many more as he could fit inside his coat pocket while handing both Ron and Hermione a print of his favorite picture. Ron the one where they all made weird faces, and Mione one where they were all mid laughter, grinning into the camera.

  
  
  


Moving back into the hotel was even worse than being flushed down the toilet  _ because at least they didn't end up with ashes stuck all over them. _ Harry coughed out what had entered his throat, even though he had made sure to only exhale air, not to breathe it in, when he saw Dumbledore sitting at the dinner table. It didn't help his coughing to see his godfather next to him, looking not very content with the situation.

  
  


“Ah, Harry, nice to see you. I didn't expect you to travel to Egypt without notice, but I am glad that you made your way safely.”

  
  


The piercing stare of his headmaster would have him apologizing on his knees a few years ago, but he was so done with the masked intentions that he just nodded and stated that he arrived safely.

  
  


“I am glad to hear that, why won´t you wait here for a moment, I would like to talk to Mr. Black and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in private before we can sit together.”

  
  


“Oh, of course, Professor Dumbledore, but why shouldn't Harry come with us? I mean, it's his business as well, even more than ours.”

  
  


“Shh Arthur now. Harry, _ just a moment Harry _ , we will be back in a second.”

  
  


_ Oh hell no _ . At least Mr. Weasley seemed not to understand why they wanted to leave Harry out of this, but Dumbledore's soft smile and Molly's glare made him give in. Not Harry though, he had it up till here with adults telling him what to do without involving him.

  
  


“I am going to come as well since Sirius is  _ my godfather _ , not the one of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Whatever you have to say to them you can do in front of me, since I am going to hear about it anyway. I would rather hear it first hand, then passed down through others.”

  
  


Silence fell over the room as Harry shocked the adults, leaving only Sirius grinning. He knew that Harry was done with Dumbledore, but seeing him stand up to him like that was rather amusing.

  
  


“Harry!  _ Excuse yourself _ , Prof. Dumbledore knows when to keep other out-”

  
  


“No, it's okay, he would find out anyway. I just wanted to tell them that Mr. Black,”

  
  


Harry was about to throw his fist at him for using Sirius' last name  _ for the second time _ even though he knew very well how much he hated it.

  
  


“Is free of all charge and awarded a  _ Merlins Orden second class _ , as well as an estate, a small fortune, an apology from the Ministerium, and the offer to look for a fitting job. The Minister asked about the named godfather affair, and we all agreed that you can keep it if you wish.

But since there are still…  _ questions  _ about his escape, I requested to have you stay in Privet Drive with your Uncle and Aunt, to ensure that you are safe and not under any danger through  _ unwelcomed parties. _ ”   
  
  
Harry saw red,  _ no he saw more than red, _ he saw the blood pumping through his eyeballs as his veins popped out of sheer fury. How dare he  _ even think about _ taking his godfather away, something he had no authority over, and then to make it look like he was doing him a favor? And not being safe with Sirius because of unwelcome parties? He would show him what two unwelcomed parties looked like,  _ and they were called his fists- _

  
  


Ron held him back from jumping his headmaster, similar to how Harry had held him back yesterday, but that didn't stop him from spitting in front of him.

  
  


“ _ Safe _ with the Dursleys?! They abused me worse than Voldemort did, they locked me up in a cupboard under the stairs the moment I could walk, they let me starve _ for days _ on end and to the housework until I physically wasn't able to stand anymore, they made do their fat kids breakfast while not being allowed to eat or even sit on the same table as them, they beat me with a broom because I asked what happened with my parents, they threatened me with no meals for a week if I did unintentional magic, without even telling me what that was, they told me lies about my parents, how they died, just like you did. 

You knew how bad I was mistreated, McGonagall told you the first time she saw my Uncle and Aunt, your spies told you that I was starved and treated worse than a house-elf, it even said in my acceptance letter to Hogwarts that I  _ lived under a staircase, _ that my whole existence was miserable and you did  _ nothing _ .

When were you going to tell me about the prophecy that destined my parents to die and me to survive huh? Maybe when I served enough to the greater good that you could get rid of me, just like you got rid of Remus or Sirius?  _ I fought Voldemort face to face more often than anybody else _ , I have been your puppet for what,  _ 13 years now?  _ And you still want to take the only good thing about my life away from me, because _ it could make me question the cruel path you choose for me _ . I was domed the moment you laid me down on a doorstep in the middle of the night rather than finding me someone who would be able to take care and love me, like Sirius here, because it served the purpose of making me blind enough to follow your lead. 

  
  


Sirius could have been a free man if you had said a word because you  _ knew  _ my father and him were close as brothers, you knew he would never trait him, that he had turned away from his old family and you still dare to call him by that name he hates so much. I will leave the Dursley forever, I will find someone to take my parentship other than those  _ monsters _ , and if you even make one move to stop me from doing so I will drop out of Hogwarts and leave, and you will never find me. I can promise you that you god-damn old man, just like I can promise you that if you try to mess with my thoughts or read my mind  _ one more time _ I will accuse you of that in front of the whole Ministerium.”

  
  


Harry gladly took Sirius' hand, who had stood beside him the moment he started screaming and disappeared with him. They left the whole room speechless, taking in what he had so boldly proclaimed. All of them knew he meant it, every single word, but that didn't make it easier to comprehend.

  
  
  
  


They appeared in Godric's Hollow; it was nighttime and it took Harry a second to figure out why this was so familiar to him, and then he started screaming. _ This is where his parents had died, this is where it all had started, this is where he would suffer the worst pain and defeat, every time _ here near his parent's grave. The screaming turned into a sobbing, heart-clenching, and going deeper than just today.

  
  


Harry cried about all the people he had lost, about all the times he was the reason others ended up hurt, and then about all the times, he was used until there was nothing left but an empty shell. Sirius was there for him, holding him close while crying himself; he had lost almost as much as Harry had in this place, but having to see his best friend's son break down so badly at the place he was supposed to grow up in broke him even more.

  
  


“I fucked up, I fucked up so bad Pads, how am I supposed to explain that, _ I just want this to end, I just want this to be finally over and have my peace.” _

  
  


_ This is my fault, _ I am so so sorry Harry, I never wanted this to happen.  _ But it did, just because of you, because you trusted the wrong person, _ whispered a voice inside Sirius's head, and he had no strength to fight it back anymore, he had no reason, not when the boy Lily and James had trusted him with was crying so hard in his shoulder and that only because of him. _ Every time we meet he gets hurt _ , every time I see him I see James so angry at me failing him, I hear Lily being disappointed, I feel Moony pulling away from me, I smell the burned rubber from that blown up the street. 

_ I should leave him if I really care if I know what's best for him, but I am even too weak for that, you god damn coward. _

  
  


Harry felt how Sirius flinched, how his whole body froze and he knew that his mind was becoming a dark place, with no chance of survival. 

  
  


“This is not your fault, you know that right? Voldemort would have found a way to kill me, maybe not instantly, but he would have got me, shopping in the mall or on my way to Hogwarts, he was undefeatable, nothing but me could have stopped him. I know and don't even start now, that you trusted the wrong one, but you had every reason to do so.

Peter was your friend, and all the hate and blame for yourself should be shouted onto  _ him _ because he is the reason my parents are dead, he is the reason I got abused, he is the reason Dumbledore was able to use me like that for all those years, he is the reason we both lost our lives, not you, not me,  _ but him _ . You take that blame from him by saying that it was  _ you _ , that your decision turned him around, and that would be the worst thing you can do now, and I simply won't allow it.”

  
  


It was Padfoot who pulled him back into a hug, no letting go of the boy that was as sweet as his mother and caring as his father, and he was so so glad that some part of him hadn´t turned bitter jet, not like him, not like Moony or all the others, and he wished that he would never change. He was right with Peter, Sirius knew that as well as he knew that he never wanted the Potters to get hurt, but he had blamed himself for so many years that it felt so right to do it.

  
  


They grieved together and somehow even more alone; just standing in the dark street until both got tired of crying. It was almost an hour later when they returned to Egypt, both reassured in their goals (to never let Dumbledore take advantage of him and to never cause Harry any more pain) that the other guests were forgotten. Only when they found Ron sitting next to their door, half asleep with his head hanging to the side, they remember that they would have to explain themselves, rather earlier than later.  _ Or we leave without saying goodbye, there would be only so much they could do about it.  _

  
  


But Ron was waiting for him, clearly tired and without a clue if or when he would return, just hoping to catch him. No way he would leave his friends behind, and he showed his love by pushing Ron over with the tip of his shoe.

  
  


“Whuu- Harry!”

  
  


Harry shushed him, not planning on waking all the others up.

  
  


“Where have you been, we were all so worried, though you decided to go rogue on us. What was that with Dumbledore, I mean I get the part with your uncle and stuff, really, I do, but wasn't that a bit much? Like,  _ you spit onto shoes off the greatest Wizard of this century _ , how does that feel?”

  
  


There was a slight catch to his question; Harry knew he was joking, but a part of him  _ really  _ wanted to know why his friend went that wild on a person most associated with outermost respect. 

  
  


“Not as bad as you look, come on, it's time for bed. We can talk on the Express tomorrow okay, we both should catch up on some sleep. You think you can handle Hermione?”

  
  


“Yeah, will be fine, maybe lock your door though so that she won't burst in and hold a lecture. You are coming this year, right?  _ No leaving without a trace, _ or should I rather stay with you so that you don't come onto bad ideas.”

  
  


“The only bad idea would be you then. No, I won´t leave,  _ not until there is no other way.  _ Don´t worry, and go to bed now, you look as bad as I feel.”

  
  


“Good night than Harry, and Sirius.”

  
  


“Good night Ron.”

  
  


“Night redhead.”

  
  


Harry slapped the back of Sirius' head as he closed the door, and Ron heard him whining even through the wall.

  
  
  
  


The next morning came faster than they had hoped; after all, they had stayed up the half-night to talk about whatever came into their minds, mostly Quidditch and Hogwarts, and it felt like they had just closed their eyes when it knocked on the door.

  
  


“Harry, Sirius, we will be leaving in one hour, better get ready now or you will be late.”

  
  


Harry checked the clock on the wall. _4.32 AM_ .  _ It felt like they had just closed their eyes because they did, going to sleep at 3.27 AM _ . Why was it so early?

  
  


He lazily hung his feet over the frame, kicking Padfoot under him by accident.  _ Ups _ . The dog growled in displeasure, very much not happy about being woken up and kicked in the stomach first thing in the morning. Harry went on his way to the corridor, checking if he had just imagined Molly knocking when he saw a very organized Percy rolling his trunk over the carpet, already fully clothed in sweater and pants.

  
  


“Morning Harry.”

  
  


“Morning. Hey, why is it so early?”

  
  


“You mean why are we up so early?”

  
  


Hurry just hummed, not ready to hold a proper conversation at half-past four.

  
  


“Because it's already nine in England. We are in a different time zone, that's why we have to leave early. Did Ron not tell you about going to bed early? What do I say,  _ he probably forgot himself.” _

  
  


Percy went on his way, shaking his head about the lousy-ness of his little brother. Harry just stared at him for a good five seconds before returning to his room. At least his trunk was already packed, so all he had to do was get dressed and put Hedwig into her cage-

  
  


_ The cage was empty. _ Why was the cage empty? He was sure he had not opened the window last night to let her out, but he couldn't remember her screaming about him doing so.

  
  


“Sirius, did you let Hedwig out?”

  
  


“Mh-mmh”

  
  


“What was that?”

  
  


“Mmh, gave her a letter for Moony.”

  
  


“ _ YOU LET HER FLY THROUGH THE WHOLE CONTINENT FOR YOUR LETTER?!  _ I could have given it to Moony today, it would have been a whole lot faster and would not include  _ letting my owl fly almost 600 km in two days!” _

  
  


“Oh shit, sorry Harry, I completely forgot that we are still in Africa,  _ I am so sorry _ -”

  
  


“It's fine, she will rest to hunt and sleep, I was just-  _ Just try not to do that again okay?  _ And please get up now, you have to shower, you smell like a dog.”

  
  


Harry drugged under a pillow, _ the third time in two days now,  _ and took over the bathroom. His hair was still a mess when he was finished, but at least he didn't smell anymore.  _ Not like a certain another person in the room. _ Almost as if he could hear Harry's thought Sirius banged on the door, demanding entrance. Harry let him in, dodging once again from a hand about to mess up his hair, and took his trolley out onto the corridor. 

  
  


He saw Ron struggle to close his because it had burst open in the middle of the doorway, and Hermione holding a lecture about how he should have packed better and earlier.

  
  


“How did you even unpack all of this, we have been staying here for a week!”

  
  


“Wasn't me who tore my trunk apart, I found Ginny snooping around, throwing my stuff around when I came back from the bathroom. She dunked the whole thing on the floor, looking for that one bow tie she got for her birthday last year, and when I asked her  _ what in bloody hell _ she was doing she accused  _ me  _ of stealing her tie to annoy her before she realized that only the twins would do that and left. She just left!  _ No sorry, or let me help you clean up, _ she just left saying that my trunk  _ wasn't packed properly, can you believe it?” _

  
  


“That you didn't take time to actually put a thought in how to pack? _ Yes Ronald, I can.  _ Now clean this mess up before somebody trips over your  _ Chudley Cannons _ PJs.”

  
  


“I AM THE VICTIM HERE! Oh hey Harry, can you believe what Ginny,  _ that beast, _ did, she just dunked my stuff-”

  
  


Harry smashed the door behind him as he fully entered the corridor, hearing Padfoot get startled by the loud sound and tried not to trip over Ron's very public display of underwear and handed down schoolbooks. Hermione had that look on her face that meant he was in trouble again, and he couldn't wait till her speech was over.

  
  


“Harry,  _ what was that yesterday!? _ You can't possibly think about dropping out, there is so much we have to learn, not even starting of how you spoke to Professor Dumbledore so disrespectfully _ , you are going to have to appolo-” _

  
  


“Hermione,  _ this  _ is what you are focussing on? I know how much it means for you to be a witch and how much you would lose if you were stopped from going to Hogwarts, but my reality is different. I can and will drop out if that means a more content life for me  _ because Merlin knows I have been through enough _ , don´t you think?”

  
  


His voice was soft, he knew she was worried for him and his future, but he had reached the point where got so sick and tired of doing what others thought was best. He would try to find his own path, his own truth, even if that meant he would end up making the wrong decision because he could look back and say that it was the right call at the time.

  
  


“Of course Harry,  _ that's not what I meant _ , but you have so much more to learn, not only about classes but about life, you need more time to think about something like that before making a decision!”

  
  


More time, _ yeah, he already had enough of that _ . He was so tempted to tell her here and now that he had had enough time,  _ years upon years to rethink and dream about what could have been, _ and now he was here, making the right call at the right time by shutting his mouth and agreeing to her. It wasn't nice to just shut her down with that, but he simply didn't have the energy to talk to her through all the possible outcomes and consequences at not even five in the morning. 

  
  
  
  


Mrs. Weasley was tamar at the breakfast table than he had thought, probably because her kids had decided to smuggle a scorpion back to school, naming it Orking, and were already fighting over who would be her real owner. It was easy to sneak an Egyptian breakfast-plate for him and his godfather, together with an ice old vessel of cactus juice. 

  
  


The food was warm, filling, and fresh; two eggs, naan, and a warm chickpea salad almost overcrowded their plates.  _ Our last meal together for a long time _ . Padfoot was already waiting, skeptical looking over the letter Dumbledore had left him in the name of the Ministry. His new estate was ready for him to move in, and they talked about what he would bring into his new home and what he would leave behind in Number 12 Grimoldplace. 

  
  


“Thought of bringing Kreacher along, but I think he hates me almost as much as my father. Only liked Reg, _ that little beast _ . He would like it if he got a new place, I think. Wasn't much of a home there anyway.”

  
  


“Bring him with you if you like, I think he will make his peace with you if you.” 

  
  


_ Don´t make him even more bitter than he already is, or he can and will break whatever bond is left between you. _

  
  


“Give him time, and maybe something from your brother, but don't give him something to wear or he will be free to leave. Doesn´t end well for most house elves to be free, believe me, I went through that struggle way too often.”

  
  


Dobby was an exception, and could not be seen as the standard for discarded house-elves _. And this time he would be free to live, _ without a master he chose to die for.

  
  


It was half-past five sooner than they knew it, and using the Floo-system was as hard as you would think when traveling with a year's worth of possessions. They ended up in a small hall in Kings Cross, not far from Platform 9 ¾, with a little over 15 minutes to the bard and say their goodbyes. Sirius was shaking when he saw the familiar scene, which must have been so similar to what he saw when he started his seventh year.

  
  


Harry pulled him in a deep hug, whispering how he would write to him, how he would talk with Moony, and that he would try to talk McGonagall to let him stay for a part of the next holidays,  _ for old time's sake _ . They both knew she would make sure never to have a Potter, former Black and Lupin under one roof when she was in charge, but maybe she had planned to leave for that exact period of time.

  
  


Tears were running down their cheeks, together with giggles and the promises to keep in touch. Neither wanted to let go first, so it was Ron who broke them apart, taking Harry's luggage and dragged it into the empty apartment he had found. Sirius pressed their forehead together before letting go, watching how Harry boarded and secretly asking if Moony was on the same train as well. Little did he knew that two eyes were stuck on him, unable to leave his face and  _ the way his hair looked just like it did when they met on Harry´s first birthday, with the same leather jacket and- _

  
  


Remus closed his eyes; Sirius looked so much younger now, so much better than when he screamed at their traitor friend that he only now realized how much of an effect that man still holds over him. _ But you don't over him, not now and not when he let you go into hiding alone.  _

  
  


Two teenagers entered, three trolleys were lifted into the headboards and one of the left again. _ Please leave, all of you, I just want to be alone.  _ But they didn't leave, instead, they brought another kid.

  
  


“Oi Harry, wanna get something from the  _ Trolley Witch _ later? I tried all summer to get the new cards but could get any of them.  _ Not even one, can you imagine? _ Hey, do you think they will make a card for Sirius as well, as a  _ sorry we thought you were a bad guy  _ gift?”

  
  


_ And of course, I end up with Harry, the one person who could make this trip even harder than it already is. _

  
  


“I somehow doubt it, but who knows, maybe I will have to see him in every second frog card from now on,  _ with that awful cocky smile _ , knowing he got one before me.”

  
  


“Why don't you have a card jet? I mean, you are  _ The Boy Who Lived _ after all.”

  
  


No doubt, this were Harry and his friends, and even though we wanted to do nothing more than to pretend to sleep as the train started to move, he knew he would get confronted by Harry sooner or later.  _ Not now though _ , not when Padfoot was still so close he could hear him shouting after Harry, wishing him a fun year.

  
  
  
  


“Who is that by the way? Seems old for a student, but teachers don't travel by train, right?”

  
  


They were almost half an hour into their journey when the red-head turned the conversation on him. _ No, he had been fine with procrastinating over the task in front of him. _ Harry took over, reading out his last name from his old school trunk. It still had its symbols burned in, and he could never bring it over him to get rid of it.

  
  


Now he regretted not taking the teachers apartment, but he knew that he would meet some of his old teachers while absolutely miserable, and he preferred for that not to happen,  _ thank you very much. _

  
  


"Hello, Professor Lupin, nice to meet you."

  
  


The shady stares got from Hermione for approaching a superior inappropriately  _ again  _ didn't stop him from grinning at the man in front of him. He even extended his hand at Moony, who slowly got up from his crouched over position. Ron let out a gasp when he saw how tall he actually was, towering them even though he was sitting.

  
  


"Hello, Mr. Potter. Is there a reason to wake me from my slumber?"

  
  


Hermione was already starting to apologize for her friend's behavior, but Harry wasn't finished.

  
  


"Yes, there is actually. You are our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, right? There is this one teacher, Professor Snape, who usually takes over the lessons as a substitute. Could you make sure to always put work out if you are out? He tends to skip to chapters at the end of the book, going through topics we are not ready for."

  
  


_ How in gods name- _

  
  


"I will consider your input. Was that it now? Or do you have more wisdom about teaching my subject?"

  
  


"No Professor, just letting you know that we have high hopes in you. Our last teachers were rather…  _ disappointing _ ."

  
  


Harry turned back to the red notebook in his lap, writing  _ who-knows-what down. _ Remus knew he had to lower the amount of sass and salt he showed towards his students, but Harry acted so much like his father, he had problems not treating him like he treated James. Hell, he even looked like Prongs, and the way he and Pad act around each other-

  
  


Harry knew that he was being watched, and he was glad that no Dementors were going to attack them, but that also meant he would have to endure his friends' stares and the question marks on Moonys face. _ Being knocked out had its perks _ , and he wished that a Bludger would come rushing through the open window to hit him in the head. But that wouldn't happen, so he could use the time on his hands to finally start his to-do list.

  
  


_ List of content, known and unknown places of Horcruxes, potions he planed on brewing, books he wanted to buy, important events that he planned on changing, a simplified TimeLine of his old life, his relation to close characters at this point, whatever the thing from the pyramid was and, most importantly, the list of deaths h would prevent. _

  
  


It wasn't finished, and he had problems recalling all that had happened over the last five years, but he could always add a page if he needed to. 

  
  


“Mione, can you read this?”

  
  


He shoved the page with the Hieroglyphs at her face, taking her attention to Moony, who decided to go back to his slumber and just ignore his students. He would talk to him, maybe after the feast or their first lesson, because Remus  _ had to know _ . Harry would need all the help to cover up the mess he was going to make, and since Padfoot physically couldn't shut his mouth over things like that it would only be a matter of time since he would get wind of it _. But not now, not here, not before Sirius' letter arrived and he got an answer. _

  
  


“What is this Harry? I can't read it, but I´m going to take classes in  _ Ancient Runes _ this year, maybe we are going to cover those, or I can ask the teacher if you want… Where did you find them?”

  
  


“Look like the ones from Egypt. Hey, did you find out what they mean?”

  
  


“No, not jet, but something is interesting about them, something I can't put my finger on. Thanks, Mione, I will come to you if I can't get it. Someone in for Exploding Snap?”

  
  


Hermione declined, putting her nose into this year's potion book while Ron accepted. They played for over two hours, talking about this year's tryouts for Quidditch, as well as making fun of Crab and Goyle, two characters that were on Harry's´ _ don't-let-them-get-bad  _ list, as well as eating whatever the _ Trolley Witch _ sold. Harry bought a king-sized chocolate bar for Moony, throwing it in his lab with a shit-eating grin. Hermione was very much not happy, gasping out loud and punching him in the arm, while Ron was rather irritated. 

  
  


Remus knew what Harry was trying to do,  _ the same thing his friends had done when they needed a quick cover-up from him _ , and it was a shame it still worked. He would see what this Potter wanted from him and then think about giving in. Till then he would enjoy the free chocolate.

  
  


The rest of the ride was rather eventless; Remus sleep, or at least pretended to do so, Hermione caught up on all of her subjects, Ron either played with Harry or with his new broom, still not over the fact that he just got the newest model.

  
  


“Come on Harry, you already have like the third-fastest broom on the market, how is it that you always get the newest stuff? The old one works perfectly fine, there is no reason to get rid of it!”

  
  


“I know Ron, and I didn't wish for it, but there was _ no way  _ to stop Sirius from just buying it for me. Have you thought about going to the try-outs this year? Wood is still captain, and I am sure he would show you how to become Hogwarts greatest Keeper if you are interested.”

  
  


“Me, playing the Quidditch team? Come on, no way I could make it! There are people  _ born _ to be good at this sport, but I am not one of them!”

  
  


“Ronald, you know that is not true! Some of the biggest players in the  _ Chudley Cannons _ only made the team in their last few years in Hogwarts, because they thought they wouldn't make it! _ Practise and a good teacher _ make the difference between who becomes a great player and who not, wouldn't you agree Harry?”

  
  


“´Course I do. Look, this might sound arrogant, but I was born with a talent most people don´t have. I learned how to fly when I was literally too young to walk,  _ Padfoot and my mum made sure of that _ , but I got only really good than Wood taught me. It is his last year, and he would love to give his position over to someone he groomed himself.

There is no shame in trying, and even if you don't make the team quite jet, you could gain some experience for next year.”

  
  


“I don't know Harry. It's not like I don't want to, of course, I want to! It's just…  _ what if I do it and then fail?” _

  
  
  


_ Oh, Ron. _ Harry knew what he meant, he knew how scary it was to try something you want to do and then fail, time and time again. But he also knew what wonderful things can come if you just do it, _ just close your eyes and jump in _ . There was nothing to lose for him, there were no consequences even if he failed, and it would help him so much to find another group he was respected in.

  
  


“Ron, hey, look at me. There is nothing wrong with giving his best and then still not making it, as long as you tried. We will still be your friends, you can still go to tryouts later on, and nobody,  _ and I mean nobody, _ will give you shit for trying, I can tell you that.

There will be a meeting this week I guess, and you could come along and ask him if you could get a chance. You wanna play Keeper, right?”

  
  


Ron nodded, and Harry saw how Remus tightened the grip on his coat _. We will talk later, you can't hide or run away, you know? _

  
  


“Then you could train with the team, or you could come with me during my free time to get a better feel for your new broom.”

  
  


“My new broom? Hogwarts only gives out brooms to established players, no way I can get my hands on one. Are you talking about the twins? _ They would rather lend them to Percy _ , out of fear I would wreck them. “

  
  


Harry grinned at his friend, not regretting the decision he had made two seconds ago.

  
  


“Why do you grin like that, it's creepy by the way. You´re not planning on luring McGonagall into giving one out, are you? Please don´t do that,  _ no way I could ever live that down _ , I´m good with just taking a few rounds on this one, if that's okay…”

  
  


They stared at each other until Harry saw it clicking in Ron's head.

  
  


“YOU WANNA GIVE ME YOUR BROOM?! Harry, _ I can't take that, that's way too much, _ even for you, it's a gift from your  _ godfather _ , and he would be so pissed-”

  
  


“Not the  _ Firebolt  _ you Dungbeat, I am talking about the  _ Nimbus _ ! You said yourself that there is nothing wrong with it, I would use it myself, but since I now have this one I would like to hand it over to you. As your next…  _ three Christmas presents. _ ”

  
  


“That's still too much! You could sell it and get almost all the money back, we are talking about a good hundred Galleons!  _ You can't just give that away on a whim _ , I don't need it that bad!”

  
  


“McGonagall bought that broom for me when I made the team, knowing that I needed a good one to come to my full potential. She would want me to help the next player out, but if you don't want it I can give it to Fred or George,  _ even though there might be only one of them left and no stone in Hogwarts standing when they decide who gets it…” _

  
  


“You know what? I am  _ sure  _ old McGony would prefer me over them, considering how much work they made her in the last years. You still sure about this?”

  
  


He nodded, taking his second broom from the headboard, and handed it over to his friend, who looked at it with even more awe than his new one. This must be one of the first things only he owned,  _ the best in his family, _ and he was glad that he could take the present.

  
  


“Thank you, Harry, _ oh come here! _ Can I rub it in the twin's noses, or would that be too much?”

  
  


“Feel free to do with it whatever you want, as long as you go and give Woods a shot.”

  
  


Ron agreed, ruffled Harry's hair, and pulled him in a hug.

  
  


“I will don´t worry. Ah, now that I think of it, you look good without your glasses! Makes your face shape better, or however, you call it.”

  
  


Hermione stopped marking a section in her parchment, looking up into her friend's face.  _ Ron was right, he looked better without them. _ But why was he not wearing them?”

  
  


“Harry, aren't you blind without your glasses? How come you don't wear them now?”

  
  


“I found out that I was blind even with them while staying at the _ Leaky Cauldron. _ It was like I had cleaned the fog out of my eyes when I was able to see for the first time after I got my eyes done.”

  
  
  


“YOU GOT YOUR EYES DONE!? First, you have a showdown with Dumbledore, then you make friends with a convicted murderer, _ I know that he is innocent, but  _ you  _ didn't at the time _ , and now you let somebody play around with Dark Magic in your eyes?! _ Have you gone mental?” _

  
  


“Calm down Hermione,  _ Jesus _ , those things have nothing to do with each other! Okay, they kind of do, but that's not the point. I had those feelings about Dumbledore for years now, and it was about time that I told him. He is manipulative, he is abusive, and he is a liar. You don't want to hear this, I know, but you have to admit that he made me do things-”

  
  


_ Of which most haven't even happened jet, god damn it, he had forgotten. _

  
  
  


“That I should not have gone through alone. And my eyes, well, the Dursleys had never brought me to an Optician or had taken care of them otherwise. Mr. Moribund said I would have gone blind within a few years, and the spell he used was a white one that had been altered, so nothing you would find in  _ the Nightshade of Necromancy  _ or similar. There are so many Witches and Wizards who are scared to go to him, simply because of prejudice against the Dark Arts.

It's not the spell that makes you evil, it's the intentions that matter, and his were to make a business fixing the eyesight of others, nothing more and nothing less. The spell was checked by the Ministerium, he was checked by the Ministerium, I got my eyes fixed. Can we talk about this when we get to Hogwarts, a little more…  _ private _ ?”

  
  


Harry knew Moony was listening to every word he said, and he gave him credit for not jumping to his thought for what he had done. That would be another thing we have to talk about, let's put it on the never-ending list.

  
  


Hermione didn't want to let go just jet, but even she understood to not discuss a minor letting an illegal procedure take place on his body in front of their new teacher and shut her mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aiaiai, sorry for taking so long to post again, but I simply leaked the motivation to do anything yesterday. A happy late V-day btw, I hope all of you had a special day (not like me :))
> 
> Spread love my dudes, this goes out to all the single lady, gentlemen, and majesty's <3


	8. Back in Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry meets three of his teachers and starts a fight with two of them.

McGonagall sat at her desk, reading through the list of new students. None raised an immediate red flag, but she knew better than to rely on that. Surprises came in all forms and sizes, especially when it came to siblings.

  
  


The Daily Prophet owl flew through the open window, landing on a collection of timetables. McGonagall played her the two Knuts, leaving the paper on the side. She would read it later, over a nice cup of tea and a biscuit, enjoying the last time the castle would be silent. The owl flew away, the two coins clinking in her pouch as McGonagall took a sip of her coffee mug.  _ Coffee was for work, tea for free time _ , so she stained her whole table as she spits out the hot beverage.

  
  


There was a very familiar face printed onto the cover of the newspaper; a face she saw laughing, joking, and crying so many times it felt like it belonged to her family. Sirius Black, one of her Marauders, was holding his godson.

  
  


_ “Sirius Black: Innocent” _

  
  


Her plans to sit down and read the news in peace were forgotten like the parchment roll in her hands as she ran over the article. She read the whole thing, and then read it again before leaning back in her chair.  _ Sirius Black was cleared of all crimes and Peter Pettigrew was convicted.  _ Hogwarts hadn't heard a scream like that in 13 years, not since October 31st, 1981.

  
  


“I knew it, _ I knew it _ , that bastard, Sirius could  _ never _ , oh you goddamn son of a bitch, I will hunt you down Peter Pettigrew,  _ you better be dead before I make you wish you were-” _

  
  


She stopped dead in her tracks from shouting at the newspaper, realizing that James and Lily had died through the betray of their low-life friend, that Sirius has looked away over 12 years for doing nothing wrong, and that the last one of her favorite students, the one who had it the hardest the longest, had to live with the loss of all of his friends.  _ And that she was right all along to think so low of Peter. _

  
  


_ “You fucking bastard.” _

  
  


Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, one of the rare times it broke as she started crying. McGonagall was always strong, always rational and proud; the one you could rely on, and at this moment she was none of those things as she grieved over those three boys and one girl she had known since they were eleven. They were taken away in one night, vanished from the surface to either be buried five feet under, go into isolation or rot in the worst place on earth.

  
  


_ And now two of them came back, as a colleague and the godfather of James and Lily's son. _

  
  


Minerva stormed out of her office, boiling with fury, pain, and what could have been euphoria. Albus should prepare himself for her rage because  _ how dare he does not call her when they arrived at Hogwarts. _

  
  
  
  


The golden Trio left the train at the station, heading over to the carriages. Ron still held tight onto his new broom, looking for his brother's while Hermione talked to a Hufflepuff nearby. The Testrals stood tall and proud before Harry, uncaring about the students around as he approached them. They stayed surprisingly calm as he started to pet their dark, leathered skin. White eyes followed him, as he caressed the thin skin over their wings. 

  
  


"Harry, by all that's holy, what are you doing?"

  
  


Hermione stood beside him, looking rather concerned as she scrutinized her friend. Harry took her by the hand, leading it over to where the winged horse stood and stroked over their fur.

  
  


"Harry, what- oh my _ , there is something! _ "

  
  


"Thestrals, I guess I don't have to explain what they are?"

  
  


"Explain what?"

  
  


Ron popped up behind them.

  
  


"That the carriages are pulled by Thestrals, winged horses that can only be seen by those who have seen death and accepted it ."

  
  


"Can you see them as well Mione? Who did you guys see dying?"

  
  


Hermione gasped and threw a fit for his inappropriate question, but Harry doesn't mind. He saw so many people dying in front of him, but the one that changed his life the most was his mother.

  
  


"My mum." 

  
  


He took his hand of the gentle creature and turned towards the wagon that would bring them up to the castle. Luna Lovegood smiled at him from a bench nearby, knowing what Harry had gone through to see those creatures. 

  
  


"Oi, stop that Mione, I didn't want to be rude okay?"

  
  


She huffed as she followed Harry inside, leaving Ron to go after her. The drive was silent; nobody wanted to speak first, content with just sitting in the warm summer breeze. Harry fidget with the wand between his fingers, already rehearsing the best offense and defense spells he had learned, just in case he would need them.

  
  


Coming into the castle felt strange; he knew that nothing would happen, but a part of him still expected chaos and panic to break out any second.  _ Almost as if everything would go downhill the moment he relaxed and laid back _ , so he stayed on edge, holding his wand tight under his robes and kept his friends in sight.

  
  


He watched the first years being sorted, remembering their names and faces, trying to recall if any of them had fought alongside him.  _ They were only 15 at the time,  _ and he knew that a part of them died in the hall they now awed at.

  
  


The last name was called, a Ravenclaw, and Dumbledore started his speech. Don't go into the forest,  _ except when we force you to do so as punishment,  _ Professor Werewolf Wolf will be your new teacher, we are welcoming back the students that spent most of last year as a statue, and Mr. Filch came up with dozens of new rules that we will  _ physically punish you if you break them _ . Nothing new, just the same as every year in the safest school in Britain.

  
  


Harry felt the stares of his teachers while loading his plate up, holding a conversation with Ron about the team and Ginny about what had happened last year, asking if she was ok. (She was very red and flustered at first, but talking about her being possessed grounded her exit excitement immensely.) 

  
  


Albus Dumbledore pierced him through his half-moon glasses, McGonagall tried her best not to drag him by his ear to demand answers, Snape looked ready to kill him and Moony who had an expression that could be described as pity (if for himself or Harry was unclear.) _ Yeah, lessons would be fun this year. _

  
  


Percy did his duty to guide the first years into their dorms when leaving the hall, and Harry was one of the only students that stood in his seat longer than necessary. He had to talk to Moony, or at least set up a date for them to sit down, but the werewolf disappeared alongside Snape through the backdoor.  _ Letter it is, or I will go looking for you with the Marauders Map. _

  
  


He went on his way to his dorm as soon as he saw the headmaster ending his conversation with McGonagall, not in the mood to handle him now. Harry was tired and more than ready to just go to bed without doing anything, but he still had to sort his luggage out and get his dorm ready. Neville and Seamus chatted in the background as Harry started to lose the straps on his trunk. 

  
  


Dozens of shirts, sweets, and unopened packages spilled over, and Harry was ready to hit his head agains _ t his bed. How did they forget that he would take all their stuff to Hogwarts _ , seriously,  _ how _ ?

  
  


"Isn't that a bit much for only a year?"

  
  


_ Even Seamus thinks that this is an overkill Sirius, and he only saw a part of your stuff.  _

  
  


“It's not mine, but I know. My godfather decided to buy out every store in London and then shoved it into my luggage. Do you have a box or something that I could send back to him?”

  
  


“Nah, but Neville might. Hey Nev, can Harry have one of your paper boxes,  _ the one in which you sent your granny flowers and stuff?” _

  
  


A rather unsure Neville handed him a folded paper box, ready to take some sort of mockery for sending his grandmother care packages. He was always nice to his housemates, and he grew into a strong, brave young man when most would give up.  _ Only a little while longer Neville, and you will see how good of a friend you really are. _

  
  


“Thanks, Neville, Pads will appreciate it when his stuff arrives safely. How was your summer by the way?”

  
  


He sorted Sirius's belongings out of his trunk while listening to Neville's encounter with his family, especially his uncle Algie, enlarging the box with an  _ Engorgement.  _ Filling it with T-Shirts, coats, leather boots, records wrapped in paper, some small boxes containing jewelry, and dozens of hair products took him about as long as for Neville to get comfortable and Ron to join in, leading their conversation over to what subjects they dreaded the most (DADA and Transfiguration).

  
  


If Harry didn't know better he would have thought his trunk belonged to a punker in the '70s, without any sense of decency, but that's probably what Padfoot was going for. 

  
  


He wrote a small note stating that he arrived safely and that he hoped his new home was to his liking and that he didn't have a chance to talk to Moony jet, laid it on top of the package, charmed it shut, and went on his way to the Owlery to send it off. It was after the curfew, but that didn't stop him from roaming through the castle, the Marauders map in one hand and the package in the other alongside a few owl cakes. He would need them to find an owl willing to fly out for him rather than go hunting.

  
  


The air was still warm, a slight breeze fluffed his hair as he climbed the stairs up, already hearing the beaks from the usually soundless birds. Most inspected him rather suspiciously as he entered and flew away when they saw what he carried. _Wow, rude._

  
  


Two brown school owls took pity on him and offered their feet, swallowing the treats whole as Harry tied the package shut. They disappeared into the setting sun, leaving Harry staring after them.  _ I will come to you as well, once I am finished here. _

  
  


Going back was rather tricky, he had to stop and wait multiple times to not get caught by a teacher or prefect, and he was relieved to finally fall into his bed. There was nothing planned for tomorrow, it was a weekend after all, and he was looking forward to just doing  _ nothing _ . Falling asleep was easy this time, exhausted from staying up all night and the long train ride he fell into a dreamless sleep over the chattering of his housemates.

  
  
  


The next morning came faster than he wanted, not able to fall asleep again Harry stood up at half-past six, way too early for his friends to do anything, and left to get ready and eat breakfast. Showered and with his Quidditch jersey he strolled into the great hall, broom under his arm and ready to start breakfast. Only one or two students per house were sitting on the wooden benches, heads laying on the table while they waited for food and coffee to appear. 

  
  


Both Dumbledore and McGonagall read the newspaper, only looking up to stare down Harry.  _ At least they gave me some time to wake up before lecturing me, _ he thought when the table before him filled up with everything he could think of, and there was a sigh of relief when the hall filled with the smell of coffee.

  
  


How long has it been since he just sat down in peace, not having to worry about how he should make the day?  _ Way too long _ he decided, finishing his pumpkin juice and black coffee alongside a big helping of waffles.  _ This was a treat day from now on _ , and he would start it with a good training session.

  
  


The air was already starting to get warm when he left the castle. It was really hot today, and he enjoyed the cold breeze while jogging around the black lake. This whole Phoenix thing had left him with way more condition than he ever had, so he ran at full speed to get his muscles arching and his brain to stop thinking.

  
  


Drenched in sweat and breathing heavily he summoned his broom, ignoring the golden mark on it, and flew up and over to the Pit. Not even Wood was their jet, the sand was still even with no indicator that anyone had even come near it the last weeks, so Harry could pull out his wand safely, summoning a timer. 

  
  


Flying came as easy as he remembered, his broom laying next to his robes as he shot into the air as a burning red bird, feeling so free that he never wanted to turn back. He first flew laps around the sandbank, staying low in case someone would come, before picking up at speed, going into sharper circles and curves, all around the ranks. It was like seeing for the first time, he was in his element while going for more risky maneuvers he had learned as a seeker, coming to the ultimate stunt: the  _ Wronski Feint _ .

  
  


Harry shot up into the air, far over the rings and the commentator stool, before letting his body go limp, going into free fall. He felt the wind tucking on his feathers, his face, and his mind, leaving no thought behind as he got faster and faster, spinning with his head down and his wings tucked in,  _ freedom on his lips as the ground came closer, he could make out the first seats and rows, about to stop his fall and take up again- _

  
  


A man came out of the woods, dressed in a thin sweater and bag hung over his shoulder. That was all it took to distract Harry for a split second, to stop him from landing face down in the dirt. He opened his wings,  _ knowing  _ that it was too late, that he was too fast and too far,  _ that there was no chance he could make it _ .

  
  


A screech escaped his throat even though he tried to hold it in, as he crashed to the ground. His ribs took most of the fall, face tucked away under his wings, but he still felt the wet grass, tasted it when it scratched his skin open, ripping out feathers while sending him sliding over the ground. 

  
  


_ Shit shit shit, fuck this hurts, of shit fucking shit. _

  
  


Harry turned back to his human form, looking worse than coming out of the Malfoy Manor, bleeding out of wounds now covered by his jersey. He could feel the ground moving in his broken ribs when their person came running over, unable to move or hide or do anything then to stop the tears from spilling over.

  
  


"What happened- Harry, by Merlin's beard, is that you?!"

  
  


Thank god it's Moony.

  
  


_ "Hmh-pff _ "

  
  


"I heard a scream, and- oh Jesus, _ you look like shit Harry _ , fuck, did you fall off your broom? Did you break something? Shit,  _ oh fuck _ , you are bleeding, god damn, I have to get Madam Pomfrey, she will help you okay?  _ Just stay here, I will be back _ -"

  
  


Remus stood over him, worried sick as he tried to get back to the castle and get a healer when Harry stopped him, his hand clutching the sleeve of his teacher as he tried to speak.

  
  


"No hmmph,  _ oh shit _ , no healer, no, just do it- _ fuck that hurts- _ just do it yourself, I know you can,  _ hmmm shit _ , just fix my chest please."

  
  


Tears rolled off his cheeks, unable to stop them, holding tight onto Moony.

  
  


"Please, Moony,  _ they can't see me like this _ ."

  
  


It hit a soft spot; Remus knew how to close cuts, he even learned how to fix bones, but he also knew how much could go wrong.

  
  


"Harry, falling off your broom is no shame, come on, I am no professional-"

  
  


Red feathers stopped him. They were all around the place Harry had crashed on, torn and covered in dirt and blood, but  _ there was no broom _ . There was nothing that indicated Harry had fallen off,  _ he had been flying on his own- _

  
  


"You gotta be shitting me- not even one day here and you already do something stupid? You are worse than James, hell, even worse Sirius! They gave me  _ at least  _ 24 hours before trying to get themselves expelled, but here you are, _ at eight in the morning- _

Don't do that to me, those puppy eyes won't bring you far, I swear-”

  
  


Harry had to try, pleading with his kind-of uncle to keep his secret.

  
  


“You know what? I will do it,  _ and it will hurt like shit _ , but as soon as it gets worse I will get Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore with her,  _ because what in Merlin's name have you been doing to end up like this huh? _ This will hurt, I will go over your torso first, guess you broke some ribs, god, _ you better didn't break your spine or I will cause more trouble than good. _

_ Brackium Emendo _ ”

  
  


Blue light cast out of Moon's wand, covering Harry's chest before it entered his body. He felt it tucking his ribs up, meeting them where they cracked, and brought his ribcage back where it belonged. No scream, no whimper left his lips, his mind clouded with the sheer amount of pain he wasn't able to produce a sound.

  
  


“Hey, Harry, look at me, are you okay? Does something feel wrong, out of place, or hurt too bad? We have to get this fixed if it isn't better, whatever happened is not worth messing his body up.”

  
  


“`Fine,  _ I´m fine _ , just- give me a moment okay?”

  
  


“Do you want some water? I have red meat as well if you feel like adding salmonella to your crushed ribs.”

  
  


_ Funny Moony, really fucking funny. _ He huffed a little while getting up, the sharp pain was gone, only a dull arching remained.  _ This is how it's supposed to be done Lockhard, you don't fucking remove all bones when you try to heal one. _ Harry took the bottle Remus was offering, emptying it while his cuts and bruises got healed by his teacher. Some hurt more than others, but nothing too bad.

  
  


“Wanted to talk to you anyway, about what happened with Peter. Did you get Padfoots letter? He said he wrote you one, I don't know how much he explained about this  _ thing _ .”

  
  


Monny furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head away.  _ Yeah, I got his letter, alongside an emotional breakdown _ . Why, why in God's name did it hurt so bad to read it when they had been separated for so long? 12 years,  _ 12 years  _ which he spent mourning over their lost future, not believing what Sirius had done, not  _ able to believe _ what he had done. He has always been doubting that it was him, he never fully gave in to his boyfriend being a traitor, _ and now here they were _ ,  _ both free of their sentences.  _

  
  


“Came this morning. Went to the woods to think about it and greet some old friends when I heard something. Was that really you who screamed like that? Thought it could be a bird, maybe a  _ Thunderbird  _ or a  _ Phoenix- _ ”

  
  


Silence fell between them as Harry didn't deny that it was him, or said that it was only him. It would have come out anyway, and rather Moony than Sirius.

  
  


“Phoenix was pretty dead-on, congrats Remus. Please, what I have to tell you has to stay between the two of us, not even Sirius knows everything jet, and especially no word Dumbledore, okay?”

  
  


Remus agreed through closed teeth, this was nothing he wanted to agree on. Harry started explaining, starting with his mother's sacrifice to his years in Hogwarts and the Horcrux hunt, ending with the battle of Hogwarts and his sacrifice at the end.

  
  


_ He's taking it better than I would have thought. _

  
  


“I met Sirius in Diagon Alley, we went to Egypt to get Peter and on the way, I found out that I can, and don´t ask me how or why exactly, turn into a giant Phoenix.”

  
  


“So, you are a seventeen-year-old that wished himself back into his thirteen-year-old body, and messed up the TimeLine completely and, well, turned into a  _ giant fucking bird.” _

  
  


The foam was forming and sweat dripped down Remus' forehead.  _ Seems like he did not take it well. _

  
  


“Yes”

  
  


“ _ Nice one Harry _ , good job, really,  _ fantastic _ . You have officially given me the worst day of my life, including the day I turned into a werewolf,  _ as I am sure you know by now.  _ Like you know everything else apparently because you are from the future! And  _ dead _ !”

  
  


“It's not like I choose this Remus!” He took a break to take a deep breath.  _ No, that was a lie. _

  
  


“I kind of did, okay I give you that one, but can´t you see?  _ I need you here _ , just like I need Padfoot! Did you read what he wrote to you? I don´t know what happened between the two of you-”

  
  


“Of course,  _ that's _ the one thing you don't know and that I really don't want to talk about.”

  
  


Harry robbed closer, sitting right before Remus as he tried to turn away.

  
  


“Look, the last time you didn't talk this through, you just pretend nothing happened and never got over being left alone. _ He loves you so much _ , he cares about you more than you can imagine. Please, could you sit down with him? There must be something you can share, right?”

  
  


“He didn't just leave me,  _ he abandoned me _ ! And he was right to do so, everyone was right to do so! _ I hurt people when they come close _ , he was right to take me away from them, but it hurt so bad!

I was separated from the others in the last months of the war, with Lily, James, and you under protection and Peter in hiding there was only Sirius to help me through my transformations, but he wasn't strong enough to hold me back, and I was put into a house far away from everyone I could hurt when I went rogue. The  _ Wolfsbane Potion _ was created not even a year after, but I couldn't return to a world where my friends aren't there, so I stayed, looked away in my own skin, unable to- I don´t know, feel complete?

Coming here was hard enough, it took Dumbledore  _ months  _ to talk me into this. Speaking to Sirius- it's too much, I don't know if I can, not when he is still  _ Sirius  _ and I am someone,  _ something  _ else.”

  
  


“He will always accept you, you know that. It might take a while for you to figure out who you are and who you want to be, but you  _ have  _ to try. You have to take the next step, or you will never find out what could have been. I know that you are no coward, I know how strong you are and how much you fight for your friends, and Sirius knows that as well.

Can we go into your office? There is still more I have to tell you, yeah, _ I know _ , and I feel like this isn't quite the place for that.”

  
  
  
  


The grounds started to fill up as they walked back; the first students laid in the sun, enjoying their last day of summer before the new year, or broke the school rules by swimming in the lake before there could be consequences for them. Laughter and the splashing of water filled the air, and it felt so wrong to walk amongst the careless teenagers, for both Harry and Moony. They knew deep down that they didn't belong here, both stuck in a war that never seemed to end, not for them.

  
  
  
  


Talking to Remus, or  _ Professor Lupin _ came easier as they finished the hard topics, moving on to their youth and what they had gone through in this castle. It was nice to have someone to talk about those things, both the war and his old life, and there was a strange connection forming over that, one they didn't have last time. 

  
  


Harry learned so much more over the Marauders, about their shenanigans as well as sweet and sad moments, and he started to see the young man that his father had made friends with rather than his teacher. They talked way into noon before Harry went back to eat lunch and meet up with his friends. Hermione would be either in the library, stocking up on new books to read, or meeting with some study partners from other houses, and Ron would probably play gobblestone outside, trying to keep his tan.  _ I have to talk to Wood before the season starts. _

  
  


He jogged through the castle, still in his jersey covered in grass, blood, and sweat, and ran right into Professor McGonagall.  _ Ups _ .

  
“Mr. Potter, what in merlin's name have you been doing? The use of the Quidditch pit is prohibited outside of training hours and,  _ oh my _ , have you decided to break more school rules by starting a fight, or is there another reason for you to be beaten up young Potter?”

  
  


_ Oh how much I missed you, Professor. _ He couldn't help from smiling that sheepish grin he always made when in trouble, because it has been  _ so long _ since he got a stand-down with his favorite teacher. That didn't make her like the situation anymore, and he started to explain himself before he got into detention.

  
  


“Well, Professor, you have to know that my godfather got me this new broom for my birthday, and I had to swear Padfoot to try it out as soon as I arrived. He says hi by the way, and oh, he wanted to thank you for getting me my first broom back in the first year and offered to come over, you know, for  _ old times sake _ or something.”

  
  


One expression after another swept over her face; displeasure about Harry breaking the rules before the year even began, recognition to hearing about his godfather, even more displeasure about him grooming his godson to break as many rules as he did, and a softness that he rarely on his rather strict head of the house.

  
  


“I can assure to Mr. Black that it was a pleasure and well-invested money to buy that broom, but I have to say that him buying  _ the Firebolt _ -”

  
She looked at the broom in Harry's outstretched hands with a raised eyebrow

  
  


“Does not allow for his owner to go and fly on his own.  _ Especially  _ since there seemed to have been more than one… accident.”

  
  


She waved over his ripped shirt and the dried blood on his face and hands.

  
  


“But I think that there can be an arrangement made of any visits in the future,  _ as long as his godson behaves _ , and doesn't cause more trouble than usual. We will talk about this at a later point, I will send you an owl when your timetables are handed out. Now go and get yourself checked by Madam Pomfrey, Gryffindor will need his seeker in the best health for this year's cup.”

  
  


_ Not getting in more trouble, that never worked out. _ He kept shut about it though, running towards his dorm to take a shower before going for lunch. McGonagall looked after him, folding her hands before her chest, delighted to see how much of her favorite students had been passed onto their son. She had no delusion that that delighted would last for long, a Potter would always mean trouble. Especially when he made friends with a Black.

  
  
  


Ron was already in the great hall, destroying Seamus in a round of  _ Snap Cards.  _

  
  


“Hah, take that Seamus,  _ that's for almost burning my face off. _ Hey Harry, wanna join us?”

  
  


“Yeah, take over Harry, Ron here decided to actually get good at this over the summer. I ain't gonna lose my eyebrows again this year, not like last time. Mate, you gotta find someone else to pull over the table, I need to talk to Flitwick before the year starts. Have fun!”

  
  


Ron raised his arms in displeasure about his classmate leaving, shouting that he should bring roses to his newfound love, before turning to Harry.

  
  


“Where have you been, dude, I've been looking for you all morning! Mione said you would be out training, but the pitch was empty so I thought you might come up for lunch. Do you still think you could talk to Oliver?”

  
  


“Talk to me about what?”

  
  


Oliver Wood sat a few seats away, on the other side of the table, reading a magazine most likely about Quidditch. Why not ask him now?

  
  


“´Bout the team this year. Hey, you are going to graduate this year right? And I guess that Angelina will take over as captain. Do you think you could show Ron how to become a good Keeper? I am sure that Angelina will do a great job with try-out, but you as a Keeper yourself know better how to look out for someone to take your position, right?”

  
  


“I mean, yeah, but this is my last season Harry, I have to train the whole team, and I have exams coming up, I can't hold private sessions for a friend of yours.”

  
  


Ron almost sulked when he got rejected, even Harry was disappointed.

  
  


“Doesn't mean that I can´t have a look at how fitted he would be for that position. Both of the twins are fabulous players and don't even get me started on Charlie, so if you come after your brother there should be no reason to not give you a chance. We will figure out a date when you can join a training session, but I hope you know that I will be Keeper for this year, no matter how much of a genius you may be. 

There are five training days per week planned, we have to win the cup this year, I can't see Flint walk away with that Trophy one more time. Now, Harry, please excuse me, I have to talk to McGonagall about the pitch reservation, I might have to plan some weekends before the games…”

  
  


Wood nodded towards them before heading over to the teacher's table, leaving Ron grinning like a madman.

  
“Hey Harry, thanks man, that was awesome! Did you hear that, he thinks I could be as good as my brothers, maybe even better! Tell me, was I good in your,  _ you know _ ?”

  
  


Ron was so excited, so happy he just had to go along. _ How could he not do anything to make his friend smile like that? _

  
  


“You were, took some warming up at the beginning though. Getting used to playing on the field is something different than just playing with friends, but there is no reason to be nervous about it, believe me, you will do just fine. Do you know where Mione is? I have to talk with her about some classes.”

  
  


“Said she would go to the library, guess that's your best shot. Wanna go and try out the new broom afterward?”

  
  


Ron's excitement got a small dell as Harry declined, but the explanation that McGonagall was already looking out for him and a reason to put him in place was enough to set him off. They were in the middle of their lunch when a rather shy voice interrupted them.

  
  


“Ehmm- Harry, this is for you, Professor Dumbledore told me to hand it over. Here.”

  
  


Colin Creeve, even smaller than Harry remembered standing in front of them, with red cheeks and an envelope in his outstretched hands.

  
  


**_Oliver and Neville hold him in their arms; putting his cold, white body onto the floor of the Great Hall. he looked so small, and Harry could see his even younger brother cradle him into their last hug._ **

  
  


Colin had snuck out, he had fought like Harry had thought him, and he had died as a child, so young and innocent. This was something he could never forgive himself for, his dead face would haunt him in his dreams forever.

  
  


Harry stared at him for a moment too long, making the blush on his face even darker.

  
  


“Ah, ah, thanks Colin, that's really nice of you. Hey, are you okay after what happened last year? We can talk if you want, feel free to come over to the dorm someday. And, oh, congrats to your brother for making it into Gryffindor.”

  
  


Colin almost fainted from excitement as he handed Harry the letter with shaky hands, stating that he had a rough time coming back this year and would really like to talk to him and walked off. He even jumped a little before he sat down, grinning from one ear to another talking to his brother and friends. Sweet boy, a little too obsessed with  _ The Boy That Lived, _ but otherwise nice to be around. 

  
  


“What was that Harry? Thought you weren't a fan of him, with the whole photo stuff last year.”

  
  


“He's a nice kid I guess, and last year was shit for him. Wanna see what Dumbledore wrote?”

  
  


He ripped the letter open, folding out the parchment inside.

  
  


“ _ Invitation to visit the headmaster's office on Tuesday the 3rd of September 1994 at 6 PM. _

_ Signed, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore” _

  
  


_ More like order to appear _ . “Guess I won't get around that one.”

  
  


“Nah, no way he will let that slide. Hey, should I come with you? He wouldn't murder with witnesses, so we should be safe!”

  
  


No,  _ he would commit two murders _ or as many as it takes to keep his clean west.  _ How far would he go when he found out what I am hiding? _ Ron should stay out of this, Hermione as well, even though I have to tell her about my age. She could handle it. Hopefully.

  
  


Harry left the great hall and his best friend behind, having half of the staff staring at his back. The stairs made his way up into the third floor so much longer than they had to be, but he still found his way to the Library.  _ Should he really tell her? _

  
  


She would have double the amount of classes this time, she was still catching up on what she had missed last year and there was no direct need for her to know the whole story.  _ But she was Hermione _ , she will know that something is off, better I tell her now than her finding it out. Right? Or should he wait until he knew more about what had happened?

  
  


Harry shifted from one side to another, wringing his hands while standing in front of the door. _ No, I will wait, _ I didn't want to tell Ron, and as bad as it sounds, I don't trust her to lie to Dumbledore about it. They would spend a lot of time together, to look after the TimeTurner, and Dumbledore would use any chance he got to press out information about him.

  
  


_ Maybe when he threw Dumbledore off _ , when it was a little safer he could let her know, but now he would have to lie to her. He took a deep breath before entering the Library, to look for more material on Helga Hufflepuff cup, a certain pureblood family, and how to cast an Extension charm.

  
  


Harry and Hermione spend the rest of the weekend reading while Ron was almost glued to his new broom. He seemed way more excited about the sport this time, and even though he didn't play better, he was training harder and took his losses easier. There was no pressure on him to succeed, he could take his time to joke with his brothers that offered to train with him.  _ As long as they would take turns on his broom of course.  _ It gave him confidence for his new hobby, and he started to look forward to showing the team his skill rather than dread it.

  
  
  
  


“We tried this  _ kick-spin _ that the last Hufflepuf Keeper did yesterday, and I think that I can copy it before the season starts. _ Hey, do you think you could come-” _

  
  


The bang of the Dungeon door stopped Reon mid-sentence, and he knew better than to finish it. Snape strode through the door, coat blowing after him as he stood in front of the board, projecting today's project onto it.

  
  


_ Girding Potion- Step one to thirteen _

  
  


“Like you, all should know the Girding Potion enhances one's straight over the following days after consumption, but the ones who wish to experiment with it shall be warned that the dosage of two vials should never be overstepped. You will follow the steps on page 12…”

  
  


Harry zoned out of his teacher's speech, too tired to actually follow along. It was Monday, the first lesson in the morning and he had stood up almost all night writing a letter to Sirius and reading about the whereabouts of Helga Hufflepuff's cup. The only thing he could focus on right now was how much had gone wrong in his teacher's life that he now stood here, holding a lesson as boring as possible.

  
  


Severus Snape was an excellent Occlumenticer, an even better dueller, and the best Potion Master in the whole of Britain, and he hated teaching children more than anything. Why was he still in Hogwarts, 12 years after his days as a spy, when he could take a job in the Ministerium, become an Auror, or even write a book on Potion brewing? He had come up with the  _ Wolfsbane Potion, _ the biggest breakthrough for Lycanthropy since  _ forever _ , and he had even written a book about what he knew in the fifth year.

  
  


_ So why wasn't he publishing it? _ His trips and tricks on existing potions would change the way students would get tough, it would make it more resourceful, with better outcomes and higher chances of success. He would get a better reputation and could probably retire, so why-

  
  


“Potter”

  
  


His voice was stern and as cold as he remembered, sending shivers down his spine.  _ Oh how much I hate this. _

  
  


“What could you be daydreaming about that is more important than my lesson? Maybe the fame and praise you got for stealing the house cup last year made you think it is unnecessary to follow by lesson, but I will gladly advise you on your way back down.  _ 10 points from Gryffindor. _

  
  


Put your vials at my desk in thirty minutes, any later applications will be marked with a T. Now go to your workstations, and try not to blow up yourselves.”

  
  


The steps were simple but vague; it reminded him of following old cookbooks,  _ where the writer expected the reader to already know what they were doing. _ But he remembered the page from the book of the Half-Blood Prince, after reading it so many times for his exams, to brew it for duels, the Potion Club, or as preparation for long journeys.

  
  


He started like instructed, adding the fairy wings into the preheated water, but made sure that they didn't touch, brought the mixture to the point where the steam turned turquoise rather than the mixture itself, and added the doxy eggs.  _ How could his teacher never tell them that they had to cut them open, or they would be pretty much useless if they didn't pop from the heat? _

  
  


He tweaked the recipe here and there; torching the dragon flys over an open flame rather than roasting them, scaling the flying seahorses before labeling them in, and letting the heat rise and fall gently without using a full flame. _ So much easier than cooking, take that Petunia. _

  
  


Severus Snape saw his students fail this potion for over a decade now; most of the times it worked out was rather by chance than skill. But he knew that it was something different than a ray of luck that made the  _ Girding Potion _ in front of him perfect. Somebody had figured out how to enhance the instructions they were given to the point it came near to the result he usually achieved. _ Somebody was cheating. _

  
  


“ _ Mr. Potter _ , may you introduce us to the way you brewed these vials? There must have been an…  _ remarkable  _ change in your skills over the last weeks, I remember you failing this very class last year very clearly.”

  
  


“I found some helpful instructions when going through my parent's remains. Both my father and mother left notes in their old school books, and I would like to share them with the class Professor so that more could make use of them.”

  
  


_ The audacity _ of this little brat to offer on sharing his father's  _ wisdom  _ as his own,  _ oh I will make sure you get to know your place Potter. _

  
  


“One acceptable potion and you strive to teach my class  _ Potter _ , that is even bolder than I expected you to be. But you seem to surprise me every time with your bold and British behavior, so I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

If you intend to keep following your father's instructions you will find yourself falling to the bottom of the class just like him, so do me the favour and prove how much of failure the two of you are.”

  
  


There was a collective gasp around the rows of students, amongst both Gryffindor and Slytherin over the brutality of their Professors' words. Nobody had expected him to get that personal, that insulting and cruel.  _ Harry Potter and Professor Snape didn't get along, but a teacher insulting a student like that was completely over the top. _

  
  


“I will make sure to prove you, wrong Professor. My mother would hate to see me fail in her favorite subject, especially since she once was a friend of yours.”

  
  


It was like seeing a car crash in slow motion, but with a car and a bicycle that then turned into a full-grown tank. Snape's mask broke when the blow hit him, and for a second Harry could see how deep his words had cut him.  _ You better get over yourself Severus, screwing up the relationship with my mother doesn't give you the right to turn into an asshole, not towards me, Remus, or any of your students. _

  
  


“Now if you would please excuse me, the next class is about to start and I would rather not lose any more points by being late for Transfiguration.”

  
  


Harry left the class, leaving his classmates shocked to their bones. Not even Snape could gather himself before the rest of his students left, all of them with disgust on their faces. Even Malfoy looked unsure about his godfather's behavior; he had said worse to his arch-enemy, but he was no authority figure of him.

  
  


Both Hermione and Ron tried to catch up and talk to him before the next class, but they couldn't find him. He seemed to just appear in the room as soon as class started, giving them no time to discuss what had happened. Professor McGonagall started her lecture about Animagi, not allowing any private conversation.

  
  


“Mr. Potter, I expect you to stay after class. I will inform your teacher about your absence from your next lesson. Now turn to chapter two and read about the stages of the transfiguration, I expect all of you to take detailed notes since I will collect them.”

  
  


The class went slow; Harry ignored his friend's attempts to talk to him and just doodled on his paper. He already had this class, he knew an animagi that would answer his questions if he had any. Not that he really planned on learning for his exams.

  
  
  
  


A pile of parchment laid between Harry and his teacher. The other students had left already, leaving the two of them alone and in awkward silence. _ Somebody had told her about his last lesson, and now I have to explain myself.  _ Great _. _

  
  


“Look Professor, I know that this may seem like-”

  
  


“I warned you not even two days ago to lay down low. You have already caused more than enough talk amongst the teachers, the headmaster, and the Ministerium, and now you have a stand-down with your Professor?!  _ Do you have any idea how bad this can end for you?” _

  
  


She was upset, no, she was way past that, she was furious. 

  
  


“First your godfather, then Professor Dumbledore, _ which I do expect an explanation for _ , and now you are standing up to Severus Snape!. Are you intending on giving me a heart attack or are you simply too careless with your words Mr. Potter?”

  
  


_ Careless _ , no,  _ I am the opposite of that. _

  
  


“Professor, with all respect, the way Professor Snape treats me and all other students is more than inappropriate. You heard about what he said during my last class with him, and that's not even the worst he had treated a student. He is not suited for his position-  _ no _ , screw that,  _ he is an unfair asshole that treats his students like dirt beneath his feet, he is an insulting and the worst bully in school-” _

  
  


“ENOUGH! I heard enough! The way Professor Snape treats his students is unacceptable, and I am ashamed to admit that I have known and brushed aside for a long time now,  _ but you are putting yourself in danger Harry _ when you confront him like that. His relation to the headmaster is a deep and well-maintained one, and he will go over great length to ensure that it stays that way. 

It shames me to ask you for this, after everything he did to you, but it would be in your means favor to build a connection to him.”

  
  


She must be kidding.  _ I tell her my teacher abuses me, and she tells me to befriend him? _ This wasn't about him anymore, this was about making sure to not lose Severus to the Dark Side again.  _ Why do adults always have to use children to fight their battles for them _ ? At least she looked like she went against her principles with this request, and Harry had a strong feeling that this wasn't her idea. What could Dumbledore hold against Minerva McGonagall,  _ the strongest woman he had ever met _ , to do something she didn't feel comfortable with?

  
  


“Just to get this right; you want me to make friends with the man that didn't get over my mum rejecting him, turned into a Death Eater, a spy because she died, bullied children every chance he gets until he turned into their worst fears and if that wasn't bad enough even physically abuses them? Professor Snape could have been a brave and honorable man, but he turned into a tyrannic pig that does what best for him. 

  
  


Now, how did you plan this out,  _ Professor _ ?”

  
  


_ Oh, what made her give it must have been big, really, really big _ . She looked like she was in pain looking at her student, the boy who had to live through more terrible things in his life than she could imagine, and now she put him through even more. Harry charmed in before she could answer.

  
  


“ _ One chance. _ I give him  _ one chance _ to be a better person, to try and do up for some of the pain he has caused, and if he fucks it up I will make sure he never sets foot out of Azkaban again. You can tell Albus that I will play along this time, but it will be the last.”

  
  


The door banged as he stormed out, the echo ringing in McGonagall's head. She felt exposed to the bone, used and tossed away like a figure on a chessboard. How did she end up as a puppet for her superior?  _ I had sworn myself to never break my principles for anyone, out of respect for myself and what I stand for, and here I am. _ Albus Dumbledore, _ I will make you pay for this one. _

  
  
  


Harry didn't return to his lesson and none after that. He snuck in the kitchen, greeted Dobby, and left with a whole buffet for himself. There was one place he would not be found in, not by his friends or teachers or the map. The Room of Requirement held exactly what he needed when he arrived on the seventh floor; a place to hide out and just be himself.

  
  


He even turned into his older version as he flopped down onto the couch, relaxing his every muscle and just let go. There was noise coming from somewhere, sounds of the ocean mixed with what could be the wind in the woods, it smelt like cinnamon and spice and morning dew in spring. Time didn't matter, all he needed was here, and he wondered how many people had died in this room, unable to leave their heaven. _ If he wished to never have to leave, would he be satisfied with the answer? _ Would he finally find his peace, here where he could never be found, far far away from all responsibility?

  
  


_ No, because you would be alone because you can't lose the ones you love again.  _

  
  


The room changed, the light got brighter, desks and tabletops appeared all around him and even the home smell changed into a more… focused one. Parchment rolls flew into his hands as he started writing a letter that may change the world. Or his world at least.

  
  


“Professor Snape,

This is in no way an apology, but a peace treaty. I will be arriving at your office this evening, at eight o´clock with an offer I hope you will accept. Since this is the time I would be in detention I expect you to have time to hear me.

Signed,

Harry Potter

  
  


He folded the parchment with the wink of his wand, sending a paper crane flying through the wall. _ This was the last time he would go out of his way for Severus, to honor whatever dignity he had left. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not edited yet, just a disclaimer!
> 
> I know that this may be hard to read, or not as good as it could be, but I just wanted to finally post it. What do you think about the character, are they accurate? Snape is soo hard to write, I don't want him to be nice or anything, he is supposed to a bit of an asshole. Was this too much, or too little?
> 
> Let me know, and leave some love behind <3

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was something, wasn’t it? The cursive part is copied out of JKR Novel “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, so I have no rights to it. Tell me if you can guess where this story is going, and what you hope is going to happen:)   
> I am looking for a Bete reader right now, if anybody is interested in proofreading my work or knows somebody who would please leave a message:)  
> Have a fun stay here on AO3, and don´t forget to leave some love behind;)


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